Overview
The complainant (Mr C) complained to Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board (the Board) about the care and treatment he received at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock (the Hospital) in connection with surgery for the removal of duct stones.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that the Board unreasonably failed to:
- obtain consent for the specific procedure that was carried out on Mr C (upheld); and
- remove duct stones at the time of Mr C's first operation (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Board:
- issue a written apology to Mr C for the failings identified in complaint (a) of this report;
- provide evidence of the action taken as referred to paragraph 16 of this report;
- carry out a significant event analysis of what happened in Mr C's case and report the findings to my office;
- provide evidence that they have addressed the issues of (i) consent being obtained by medical staff not competent to carry out the surgical procedure the patient is being consented for; and (ii) obtaining written consent on occasions other than the day of the patient's surgery;
- ensure that the comments of the advisers are brought to the attention of the relevant staff;
- issue a written apology to Mr C for the failings identified in complaint (b) of this report; and
- provide evidence of the action taken to address the failings identified in respect of the removal of Mr C's residual right sublingual gland.
The Board have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.