Health bosses say sorry over surgery bar
Complaint handlers have ordered NHS Tayside to review a patient’s treatment after it denied them bariatric surgery following a breakdown in communication.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) said the review ought to be conducted “with a view to forming a clear plan” for the patient after they claimed they were not put forward for surgery “on a number of occasions”.
The body also advised the health board to apologise to the aggrieved patient, identified in its decision report only as C, after learning a consultant surgeon inappropriately raised their formal complaint about the service during a consultation.
The SPSO’s report said: “C complained that, although they had made lifestyle and health changes as requested by [a] multidisciplinary specialist weight management team, they were not put forward for surgery on a number of occasions.
“C complained that a consultant bariatric surgeon acted inappropriately during consultations with them and that information C provided upon request was ignored when considering their suitability for surgery.
“C considered the delays to their surgery to have been unreasonable and raised further complaints about the board’s handling of their concerns.
“We found that the consultant bariatric surgeon inappropriately required C to bring their test results to a consultation and inappropriately referred to them having made a complaint during a consultation.
“We found that the decision to postpone the surgery until such time as C’s diabetes was being better managed was reasonable. However, in relation to the decision to postpone surgery, we found that the board’s poor administration of C’s case and poor communication with them led to C not being suitable for surgery.
“We found, therefore, that this had led to C’s request for later surgery being denied and that the board had contributed to this situation. We found that the board had taken reasonable action in response to C’s complaint but that they had unreasonably failed to advise C of the outcome of a multidisciplinary team meeting.
“We, therefore, upheld the complaint.” A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “We have accepted the ombudsman’s recommendations and have apologised to the patient and we are working to address the recommendations in the report.”