Overview
The complainant, Mrs C, raised a number of concerns about the care and treatment provided to her late mother, Mrs A, while she had been a patient at Ayr Hospital (Hospital 1). She said she felt Mrs A had been wrongly given Diazepam and that the nursing care was inadequate. She believed that the care had led to a significant deterioration in Mrs A's condition.
Specific complaint and conclusion
The complaints which have been investigated are that:
- (a) the nursing care provided to Mrs A was inadequate (not upheld);
- (b) Mrs A did not receive appropriate treatment and was wrongly prescribed Diazepam (upheld);
- (c) Mrs A's family was not given sufficient time to consider a proposed move of hospital (not upheld);
- (d) Mrs A's transfer to another hospital was carried out inappropriately (no finding); and
- (e) a conversation about Mrs A's treatment was inappropriately held in a public place (no finding).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Board:
- (i) apologise to Mrs C for the failures in record-keeping, which have made it difficult for the Ombudsman's advisers to fully evaluate Mrs A's care, and for the error in their letter to Mrs C of 5 December 2006 concerning the use of Diazepam in Mrs A's care;
- (ii) provide clinical staff involved in Mrs A's care and the Board's relevant clinical director with a copy of this report; and
- (iii) provide evidence of the systems in place to monitor and audit medical and nursing records.