Overview
The complainant (Mrs C) raised a number of concerns against Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board (the Board) about delays in diagnosing and treating her thyroid cancer at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock. Mrs C believed this was due to mistakes, confusion and poor communication and support by hospital staff and had felt 'massively let down' by what had happened to her.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that:
- (a) Mrs C was not given reasonable information, advice or support about the lump on her neck, and the possible risk of cancer, to allow her to make informed decisions about her treatment (upheld);
- (b) nobody took reasonable steps to follow up, after the time Mrs C was timetabled for the operation, to ensure that the lump had not changed or to arrange a further operation date (upheld);
- (c) staff unreasonably failed to carry out further tests when the lump was first discovered (not upheld); and
- (d) the Board failed to provide a reasonable explanation of both the process which would be followed in relation to the scan offered in March/April 2011 and also the scan results themselves (not upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Board:
- (i) share the comments of the Adviser, in relation to complaint (a), with the relevant hospital staff to ensure that full information is given to a patient on the need for surgery and that this is documented in the patient's medical records;
- (ii) issue Mrs C with a full and sincere apology for the failings identified in complaint (a);
- (iii) consider changing their current practice so that where a patient cancels their surgery for a putative benign lesion, the hospital department concerned contacts the patient again, in a form that is documented, and records either the need for surgery or a follow-up appointment; and
- (iv) issue Mrs C with a full and sincere apology for the failings identified in complaint (b).
The Board have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.