Call for health bosses to bring change
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth said it was vital NHS Ayrshire and Arran made changes following their admitted failures in the three patient care cases, which were scrutinised by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
Mr Smyth said it showed the importance of training and giving staff“full support”as they treat patients during such testing times. And he hopes NHS Ayrshire and Arran fully implement the recommendations in the SPSO reports.
He said:“We should never forget that behind each of these reports are families who have lost loved ones and my thoughts are very much with each and every one of them.The findings of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman will do nothing to bring those loved ones back, but I hope that they bring some closure for families to what must have been a terrible time.
“While things unfortunately can go wrong in a medical setting, just one such incident when someone doesn’t receive the care they need is one too many.
“It is vital that NHS Ayrshire and Arran take the findings of each of these reports fully on board and make all the changes needed, so we can ensure there is never a repeat of these incidents.
“In particular, management at the Health Board need to make sure that staff are given the training they need. These may be small number of cases across several departments when you consider how many people are treated, but there does seem to be a recurring theme of staff maybe not having the full support they need and I hope the Ombudsman follows up to get adequate evidence that their findings have been fully implemented by the Health Board.”