Mrs W complained about the care and treatment provided to her son, Mr Y, by the Health Board. Mrs W queried whether opportunities were missed during September-November 2020 by the Trauma and Orthopaedic team to identify signs that Mr Y had Motor Neurone Disease (“MND” – a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system). She also asked whether an opportunity was missed on 28 February 2022 by the treating doctor to consider whether, or identify signs that, Mr Y had MND and said complaint handling was poor and information was not shared with Mr Y’s family in good time.
The Ombudsman found that Mr Y had no symptoms which would have suggested he was suffering from MND in 2020, so this complaint was not upheld. The Ombudsman also found that appropriate investigations were undertaken following Mr Y’s GP’s referral in February 2022, and in any event, it was unlikely that progress of the disease or the outcome would have been any different if he had been diagnosed earlier. The Ombudsman therefore did not uphold this part of the complaint. Finally, the Ombudsman considered the Health Board’s complaint handling and response was appropriate, so did not uphold this part of the complaint.
As the Ombudsman did not uphold Mrs W’s complaint, no recommendations were made to the Health Board.