Monday 19 October: Complaint form offline

The supplier of our case management system has confirmed that they are experiencing a significant technical issue.

At present, we have no access to the case management system and we are currently unable to provide updates on existing cases.

We are planning on the basis that this could continue for a period of time including for the remainder of this week.

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Investigation Report 200500578

Overview

The complainant (Mr C) raised concerns about the failure by Inverurie Hospital (the Hospital) to admit his wife to a palliative care suite.

Specific complaints and conclusions

The complaints which have been investigated are that:

(a) staff failed to communicate effectively with Mrs C's GP prior to transfer (upheld);
(b) staff made ineffective use of the palliative care suite (not upheld);
(c) staff failed to communicate effectively with Mrs C's family (no finding); and
(d) the nursing records failed to comply with the regulations (upheld).

Redress and recommendations

The Ombudsman recommends that the Board:

(i) apologises to the family for their communication failures; and
(ii) provides evidence to show the new documentation tool has been audited to demonstrate that nursing records adhere to minimum standards.