Decision Report 201603954

Summary

Mr C complained about the care and treatment received by his sister (Mrs A) at University Hospital Ayr. Mrs A was referred to the hospital for a respiratory opinion with a chronic cough. Mr C felt that there were delays in carrying out investigations and a lack of communication with Mrs A about her condition. Mr C also raised concerns about the board's complaints handling.

During our investigation we took independent medical advice from a consultant in respiratory medicine. We found that there were delays in Mrs A receiving follow-up respiratory appointments and that there was a failure to communicate appropriately with Mrs A about her diagnosis and treatment. We upheld this aspect of the complaint.

We also found that the board failed to provide a reasonable response to Mr C's complaint, therefore, we upheld this aspect of the complaint.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise to Mrs C and Mr A for the failings identified in this report.
• Apologise to Mr C for not addressing all of his concerns in their handling of his complaint.

What we said should change to put things right in future:

• Patients should receive follow up clinical appointments within a reasonable timescale.
• Patients should have a clear understanding of respiratory consultants' views about their condition and the impact the resultsof tests may have on their diagnosis or treatment.

We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.