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Case ref:201100716
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Date:January 2012
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Body:Lothian NHS Board
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Some upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:Appointments/Admissions (delay, cancellation, waiting lists)
Summary
Mr C complained about the treatment he received from the board for two hernias. He said that a surgeon failed to correctly interpret his scan results, as he failed to identify one of the hernias. However, we found that the surgeon had interpreted the scan correctly and had identified the second hernia. Mr C also complained that the surgeon said that he would be contacted in a week's time about another appointment, but there was then a ten-week delay in providing him with an appointment.
There was no evidence that the surgeon told Mr C he would be contacted in a week. The surgeon had recorded that he would discuss the scan with radiologists and one of his colleagues who specialised in abdominal wall repair. He also said that Mr C should continue to try to lose weight to improve the chances of repairing the hernias. In view of this, we found that the ten-week gap between his appointments was reasonable.
Mr C then cancelled the appointment due to work commitments. He complained about the board's delay in arranging a further appointment. We found that four and half months was too long for him to wait for another appointment and upheld his complaint about this delay.