Decision Report 202008168

Summary

C complained about care and treatment provided to their parent (A) by a district nurse from the partnership.

A was fitted with a catheter. C contacted a community nurse team to raise concerns that A's catheter was draining slowly and that there was blood in their urine bag.

The district nurse visited A later the same day. C was present during this visit. The district nurse assessed A, changed their catheter bag and provided advice. After the visit, the district nurse discussed their actions with a GP. The GP agreed with the district nurse's actions and their assessment of A. The district nurse called C afterwards to inform them of this and to reiterate their earlier advice.

Later that evening A's catheter blocked. C called 111 and A was subsequently admitted to hospital. A was diagnosed with urosepsis (a serious infection of the urinary tract). A subsequently died in hospital.

C complained to the partnership about A's care and treatment, but they failed to identify any failings. C remained unhappy and asked us to investigate. C complained that the district nurse had failed to provide A with appropriate care and treatment despite knowing that they had a urinary tract infection.

Following investigation, and receipt of independent advice, we found that the district nurse had acted reasonably. We found insufficient evidence to illustrate that the district nurse knew that A had a urinary tract infection. We found that the care and treatment provided was reasonable in light of the information available at the relevant time. We did not uphold C's complaint.