Decision Report 201601259

Summary

Mr C complained about the orthopaedic treatment he had received from the board. In particular, he complained that he had undergone a number of operations on his shoulder and had contracted an infection.

We took independent advice from a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. The advice we received was that the orthopaedic treatment Mr C received was reasonable and that, while his care pathway had resulted in a poor outcome for him, there was nothing the board could have done differently to achieve a better outcome for him. The advice we also received was that there was no way of knowing when the persistent infection Mr C contracted had developed. In the circumstances we did not uphold the complaint.