Decision Report 201704828

Summary

Mr C complained about surgery he received at Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, which involved placing Bio-Oss (bovine bone material) around his jaw in order that he would have enough bone to support dental implants. He complained that some of the surgery had been carried out by a trainee without him giving consent for this.

We took independent advice from a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon (a  specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the mouth, jaws, face and neck). We found that it had been reasonable for the trainee to carry out the procedure, however, there was not sufficient evidence that Mr C had been informed of this. Therefore, we upheld this aspect of his complaint.

Mr C also complained that the board had not adequately informed him of the risks of the operation. We found that the information given to Mr C had been reasonable and we did not uphold this aspect of his complaint.

Mr C was also concerned that the board had delayed in investigating the complications that he had after the operation and that they had not provided an adequate explanation of what had gone wrong. We found that Mr C had received treatment after the operation without unreasonable delay and that the explanation he had received was reasonable. We did not uphold these aspects of Mr C's complaint.

Finally, Mr C complained that the board had delayed in amending the policy and procedures in the hospital to prevent the problems he experienced from happening again. We found that the action taken by the board to learn from the case had been reasonable and we did not uphold this aspect of Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise to Mr C for the lack of clarity in the consent form about the involvement of a specialist trainee in his surgery. The apology should meet the standards set out in the SPSO guidelines on apology available at www.spso.org.uk/leaflets-and-guidance.

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

• The consent form should clearly and correctly reflect the situation if specialist trainees are to be involved in carrying out a procedure.

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.