Decision Report 201802977

Summary

Mrs C complained about the nursing care provided to her cousin (Mr A) during an admission to Forth Valley Royal Hospital. Mrs C raised concerns about various aspects of the nursing care provided to Mr A in respect of his hygiene and whether he was being provided with appropriate support to eat and drink properly.

We took independent advice from nursing adviser. We found that there were daily entries in the nursing notes to indicate Mr A's needs were met. We noted that the care plan documentation had not been completed until some time after admission. However, while it would be good practice to do so earlier, this does not necessarily mean the nursing care provided was not of a reasonable standard. We acknowledged that the account provided in the nursing records was not Mrs C's experience. However, we did not consider there to be independent evidence that could verify her view. Therefore, based on the available evidence, we did not uphold this complaint.

Mrs C also complained about communication issues she experienced as Mr A's power of attorney. The board had previously provided an apology for Mrs C's experience but there were still a number of areas Mrs C was unhappy about. On balance, we concluded that staff's communication with Mrs C was reasonable in the context of a busy hospital environment. We acknowledged that communication was not as good as it could have been, but we did not consider it to be unreasonable. We provided some feedback to the board but, on balance, did not uphold the complaint.