Mr X complained that he endured considerable pain as a result of a surgeon inserting a pin in his skull without anaesthesia. Mr X was unhappy with the complaint response from Swansea Bay University Health Board and the fact that it not provided him with copies of the statements from the surgeons involved in his care.
The Ombudsman found that the Health Board had failed to provide Mr X with copies of the surgeons’ statements, despite it having provided him with statements from other staff members. Further, the complaint response provided by the Health Board did not comply with the NHS (Concerns, Complaints and Redress Arrangements) (Wales) Regulations 2011 as it did not address the issue of whether there was a qualifying liability on the part of the Health Board.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Health Board’s agreement to provide Mr X with copies of the surgeons’ statements within 10 working days, and to re-issue its complaint response to Mr X, following consultation with an independent clinician, within 6 months.