Mrs C complained about the care and treatment provided to her husband by the Health Board at the Grange University Hospital and the Royal Gwent Hospital before he died. In particular, Mrs C was concerned that a failure to take due consideration of his liver condition contributed to his deterioration.
The Ombudsman identified that the Health Board had agreed to arrange a complaints meeting to discuss Mrs C’s outstanding concerns following its formal response to her complaint. However, there appeared to be an unresolved delay in arranging the meeting so the Ombudsman contacted the Health Board.
The Health Board agreed that within 1 month, it would: a) Provide a formal apology to Mrs C for the delay in contacting her advocate to arrange a complaint meeting b) Contact Mrs C’s advocate to confirm a time and date for a complaint meeting with appropriate representatives of the Health Board who can answer the outstanding queries provided to the Health Board on 1 July. The dates offered should be as soon as possible and within 6 weeks.
The Ombudsman considered that the above actions could help to resolve Mrs C’s complaints, and therefore settled the complaint on this basis, without investigation