Mr C complained about care provided to his mother, Mrs D, by Swansea Bay University Health Board in May 2023. Specifically, he was concerned that a consultant psychiatrist had noticed that his mother had suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack (“TIA” – also known as “mini strokes”, they are caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain). He said that, despite this, the Consultant Psychiatrist did not pass the information to other treating clinicians, and that this could have altered Mrs D’s treatment. He was also concerned that there had been a failure by the Health Board’s Emergency Department to identify that his mother was at risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis when she attended for assessment of an ankle injury.
The Ombudsman was concerned that the Health Board had not fully addressed the concerns set out above in its response to Mr C. In the interests of settling the complaint, the Health Board agreed to provide Mr C with a further complaint response within 8 weeks, addressing the outstanding issues, as specified by the Ombudsman.