Mr B complained about the care and treatment provided to his late mother, Mrs A, by Swansea Bay University Health Board. Specifically, the investigation considered: a) Whether Mrs A’s treatment for a pulmonary embolism (“PE” – a serious condition caused by a blood clot in the lungs) between 9 December 2020 and 27 January 2021 was appropriate b) Whether it was reasonable for Mrs A to have been discharged from hospital on 15 December 2020 c) Whether it was appropriate for Mrs A to have been treated on a COVID-19 ward following her admission on 4 January 2021, and whether all reasonable infection control measures were taken.
The investigation found that the care and treatment provided to Mrs A by the Health Board between 9 December 2020 and 27 January 2021 was appropriate. This included the treatment for a PE, the discharge decision on 15 December 2020 and the treatment Mrs A received after she was admitted to a ward on 4 January 2021. Complaint c) was upheld to the limited extent that there had been a failure to record the reasons for the decision to admit Mrs A to the ward despite it having been closed due to an outbreak of COVID. This meant that the Ombudsman could not determine whether the decision was appropriate, which was an injustice to Mr B.
The Health Board agreed to the Ombudsman’s recommendations to apologise to Mr B for the failings identified and to take steps to ensure that in the future, the specific reasoning for any decisions to admit patients to wards which have been closed due to an outbreak, are clearly documented in the patient’s notes.