Ms A complained about the care and treatment provided by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to her late sister. Ms A was concerned that the Health Board delayed obtaining information from another hospital, which delayed confirming her sister’s diagnosis of heart failure.
The Ombudsman decided that the Health Board’s complaint response was reasonable, and provided detailed explanations for the care provided. However, based on the explanations it was clear that there were several opportunities for the Health Board to seek the information from the other hospital, to confirm the heart failure sooner. As a result, Ms A’s sister was unable to start cancer treatment at an earlier time. The Ombudsman considered that it would not be able to determine whether an earlier diagnosis would have changed the outcome,but that Ms A’s quality of life in her final months may have improved. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Health Board’s agreement to, within 1 month, apologise to Ms A and provide her with an update on the recommendations made within the Health Board’s investigation report.