Andrew Ritchie, Agnes Nicol and George Johnstone

It is essential that every doctor and nurse responsible for the care of a patient has access to all the records and all the documents and that full notes are available at all times.

I can only hope that NHS Lanarkshire will ensure in future that, firstly there is full documentation recorded by both the doctors and nurses involved in each stage of the treatment of patients, and secondly that the records department ensures that all the hospital records are kept and made available to all those who require access to them.

I would expect surgeons and staff to be reminded of the need to review each case individually in deciding whether it was appropriate to postpone such an operation to a later date.

Considerations, including the likelihood of the patient suffering further discomfort or further complications while awaiting the elective operation should be given due weight as should the patient’s own wishes in this matter.