Decision Report 201609301

Summary

Mr C complained about the care and treatment that the board provided to his late mother (Mrs A) at Wishaw General Hospital.

Mrs A became ill and she was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Staff examined her and considered that she had pneumonia (a lung infection) and acute kidney injury. Mrs A also had symptoms of life-threatening sepsis (a blood infection). Given Mrs A's condition, staff made a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation decision (DNACPR decision - a decision taken that means a healthcare professional is not required to resuscitate the patient if their heart or breathing stops). Mrs A's condition continued to deteriorate, and she died early the next morning. Mr C raised specific concerns about the DNACPR decision, and the medication provided to Mrs A.

We took independent advice from a consultant in acute medicine. We found that, given the medical condition that Mrs A was in, it was reasonable for a DNACPR decision to be made. There was evidence of discussion with a senior consultant and with the family. We also found that the medication prescribed to Mrs A as reflected in the medical records was reasonable. We did not uphold Mr C's complaint.

Whilst we did not uphold the complaint, we found that the board were unable to provide a completed DNACPR form from their records. Therefore, we made a recommendation to address this.

Recommendations

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

• DNACPR forms should be completed and filed appropriately.

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.