Mrs F complained about matters concerning her daughter’s treatment at one of Hywel Dda Health Board’s hospitals in 2011. She explained that her daughter, Miss F, had a severe form of endometriosis, which is a gynaecological condition. Mrs F said that the hospital mismanaged her medical care, failed to refer onward to a more specialist hospital in another area and mishandled her complaint.
The Ombudsman upheld her complaints. He noted that the hospital had operated on Miss F twice. The second operation was poorly planned and Miss F was badly prepared psychologically and physically. Moreover, she should have been referred to a more specialist unit after the first operation. In the event, Miss F’s second operation was abandoned without success and clinicians decided to refer her to the other hospital. The Ombudsman concluded that the hospital played a part in the referral initially failing. In addition, he criticised the Health Board concerning the handling of Mrs F’s complaint.
The Ombudsman recommended that the Health Board apologise to Miss F and pay her £3250 as an acknowledgement of the injustice she suffered due to the failings identified. This included an unnecessary operation. He made a number of further recommendations including work to ensure that patients are prepared properly for gynaecological operations, action to prevent a recurrence of the planning failures in Miss F’s case and improving referral pathways. The Health Board accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
A copy of the full report can be downloaded below.