Mr P complained that he had not been informed of a decision made by Swansea Bay University Health Board that it could not undertake an amputation of his leg at its orthopaedic tertiary centre, and that he would need to be referred back to his local Health Board for the procedure.
The Ombudsman decided that Mr P had been led to believe, in correspondence with clinicians, that an amputation could be undertaken at the Health Board, and whilst it was accepted that this might no longer be possible, Mr P had not been informed of the decision or that he had been discharged from the service. She decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Health Board’s agreement that within 1 month, it would write to Mr P to acknowledge and apologise that he was not informed of the decision to discharge him, and to outline any learning to ensure clinical letters were copied to patients as appropriate.