Mrs A complained that Cwm Taf University Health Board (“the Health Board”) discharged her daughter, Ms B, from the Royal Glamorgan Hospital too quickly. She pointed out, in that regard, that Ms B had died shortly after her discharge.
The Ombudsman upheld Mrs A’s complaint. He found that the Health Board did not assess Ms B’s physical condition properly before discharging her. He also determined that the Health Board’s response to Mrs A’s concerns, about Ms B’s discharge, was inadequate and misleading. He recommended that the Health Board should:
(a) Apology – Write to Mrs A to apologise for the failings identified.
(b) Financial redress – Pay Mrs A a nominal sum of £3000 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty associated with the possibility that Ms B might have survived if the clinical failings identified had not occurred.
(c) Action plan – Prepare an action plan which details how it will address the clinical failings identified and specifies when it will complete these actions.
(d) Undertaking – Give him a formal written undertaking in which it agrees to comply with its action plan.
The Health Board agreed to implement these recommendations.
A full copy of the report is available below.