Mrs D complained about the care and treatment her mother, the late Mrs M, received when she was admitted to the Accident and Emergency Department at the Princess of Wales Hospital on July 2010. Mrs D said that the triage nurse had not administered the treatment that her mother’s condition required. There were also concerns about her subsequent treatment and in particular how discussions about the requirement to resuscitate, should that prove necessary, were managed.
Mrs D held the view that her mother was initially being allowed to die without appropriate medical intervention and that the lack of intervention had led to her death some days later.
The Ombudsman’s clinical advisers were highly critical of the failure of staff to deal with Mrs M’s condition on arrival appropriately. They could not find any evidence of appropriate intervention as required by procedures such as nursing staff calling a doctor. There were also delays in cannulating Mrs M and in administering medication appropriate to her health needs. They could not however point to evidence that the failures in early intervention had contributed to Mrs M’s death.
The Ombudsman recommended that the Board should apologise to the family for the failings in the report, make a payment of £1,000 and review its procedures and the professional competence and training of the nursing staff involved in the admission of Mrs M. The Board accepted the recommendations.
A copy of the full report is available below.