Elderly man fell 4 times in a week at hospital

AN elderly man who fell FOUR times and died a week after being admitted to Glasgow’s super-hospital was not given a “reasonable” standard of care, an inquiry has found.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been told to issue a written apology to the patient’s family for failings in his care and treatment at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

An i nvestigation found that the pensioner’s falls had not been assessed properly by staff and there was an “unreasonable delay” in making a referral for specialised support.

The patient, who has not been identified, was frail, had a history of heart disease and there was evidence he had chronic kidney disease.

An independent assessor said there were issues with his medication and that staff failed to contact the family when his condition deteriorated significantly.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman inquiry also found there were failings in the planning, monitoring and recording of the pensioner’s nutrition and personal care.

It was unable to conclude whether the failings were significant contributing factors in the man’s death.

However, a complaint about the standard of care given was upheld by the SPSO.

It found: “Mr A’s nursing care and treatment fell below a reasonable standard.

“Mr A appeared to have suffered four falls during his admission.

“We found it was of concern that Mr A’s falls risk appeared to have been ineffectively assessed and there was an unreasonable delay in making a referral to a falls prevention specialist.”

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: “This case identified a number of failings in our services and care arrangements which we have highlighted to our staff.

“We will use the lessons from this case to ensure our staff provide appropriate support and care for patients and their families.

“We had already offered our apologies to the patient’s family but we will write to the family again.”