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Case ref:201800341
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Date:December 2018
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Body:Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board - Acute Services Division
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Some upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:nurses / nursing care
Summary
Mrs C complained about the nursing care and treatment provided to her late brother (Mr A) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Mrs C raised a wide range of issues including a failure to provide Mr A with adequate personal care and to properly identify and treat a pressure ulcer. Mrs C also said her mother had been required to provide Mr A with personal care, even though she was elderly and unfit to do so. The board said Mr A had requested nursing staff allow his family to provide personal care, and that staff had discussed this with Mr A and his mother. Mr A had suffered skin damage, but not a pressure ulcer and this had been treated appropriately.
We took independent advice from a nurse. We noted that staff should have ensured that discussions about patient care were properly recorded and we provided feedback to the board. However, we found that the care provided to Mr A was reasonable and we did not uphold this aspect of Mrs C's complaint.
Mrs C also complained that the board failed to handle her complaint reasonably. We found that there had been an excessive delay in responding to Mrs C's complaint correspondence, due to human error on the part of a member of staff. We upheld this aspect of Mrs C's complaint and provided feedback to the board.