NHS apology for grieving family

NHS Tayside has apologised to the family of a patient who died following surgery after an investigation identified an “unreasonable delay” in their care.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) found failings in the care of the patient, referred to as “B”, who died in hospital following knee surgery.

A report by the watchdog detailed how the operation went well but during B’s recovery their condition began to deteriorate.

They were transferred to the high dependency unit, where they went into cardiac arrest. CPR was administered but was unsuccessful and the patient died.

Following B’s death, their spouse – referred to as A in the report – raised a complaint about their treatment during admission.

A subsequent review by NHS Tayside identified issues with the care and treatment administered and made recommendations to address these issues.

However, the SPSO became involved after the family were not satisfied all questions regarding their loved one’s care had been addressed. During their investigation, the watchdog took independent advice from a specialist in orthopaedic surgery and found a series of failings in the patient’s care.

These were:

Observations of B should have been increased

Their care should have been escalated

Antibiotics should have been commenced sooner

The watchdog also found NHS Tayside did not give A clear answers to their questions within a reasonable timeframe.

Concluding their report, the SPSO ordered NHS Tayside to apologise to A for an unreasonable delay in an urgent assessment being undertaken, a failure to escalate B to the medical team and the decision to administer antibiotics not being made sooner.

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “We have apologised to the family and our thoughts remain with them.

“We always take the feedback we receive from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman very seriously and have addressed all the recommendations within the report.”

Ninewells.