NHS sorry after man with brain bleed branded drunk

A MAN suffering a brain haemorrhage was sent home from hospital after medics mistook his symptoms for drunkenness, it has been revealed.

NHS Lothian was ordered to apologise for the blunder after an investigation heard that doctors in the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary “wrongly attributed signs of disorientation and incoherence to intoxication”, rather than a bleed on the brain.

It also found that the patient, known only as Mr A, had undergone “significantly fewer neurological observafeel tions” than required for a head injury.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), who investigated a complaint into Mr A’s care, said he should have received a CT scan on admission to hospital. Mr A’s ordeal began when he was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs on March 31, 2015 after attending a wine-tasting event.

Dr David Farquharson, medical director at NHS Lothian, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to Mr A [and his family] for the failings in this case.”