Decision Report 201706505

Summary

Mrs C complained about the treatment she received at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital following a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus). The morning following the surgery Mrs C received a blood thinning injection and when she was discharged later that afternoon she was given an information leaflet on exercises to undertake at home. Just over a week following the discharge, Mrs  C developed breathing difficulties and a high temperature and attended hospital where it was found she had suffered a pulmonary embolism (a blockage of an artery in the lungs) and required further blood thinning injections. Mrs C felt that she was not given sufficient blood thinning injections following the surgery and that she had been discharged home too early.

We took independent advice from a medical adviser and found that, following her surgery, Mrs C's observations were found to be normal and that she was able to eat and drink and was mobile. We also found that she had been fitted with TED  stockings (stockings that help to prevent blood clots) and had received a blood thinning injection within a reasonable timeframe following the surgery. We concluded that it was appropriate to have discharged her from hospital and that there was no clinical indication that she would then go on to develop a pulmonary embolus. We did not uphold Mrs C's complaints.