Rebuke for NHS Tayside over care of patient

NHS Tayside has been rapped by Scotland’s public services watchdog after it found treatment of a patient who later died from a blood clot “fell below a reasonable standard”.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) found failings in the care of the patient, referred to as ‘A’, after a complaint was raised by a family member.

Patient A had initially been admitted to hospital before being moved to a mental health facility. However, they were subsequently transferred to an acute hospital for treatment after developing “abdominal symptoms”.

Surgery had been considered but this was changed to treatment with medication.

They were transferred back to the mental heath facility but later became unwell again. The patient was then taken to A&E but died from a pulmonary embolism.

Following the death, a family member of Patient A raised a complaint with the watchdog.

They said A’s dignity had been compromised because of the care administered to them. They complained that personal care had been neglected and that the patient did not receive required medication.

Concerns were also raised over the response of the NHS Tayside board to the complaint.

The watchdog found the nursing and medical care had fallen below a reasonable standard and that the board had failed to communicate reasonably with the family.

An NHS Tayside spokesperson said: “We are sincerely sorry that treatment and care in this case fell below the standard we would expect.

“We have met with the family and apologised to them. .

“We accept all the recommendations made in the report.”