Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Lothian NHS Board

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Partly Upheld Reference 201100716 Sector Health Category Appointments/Admissions (delay, cancellation, waiting lists) Decided 01 January 2012

View NHS Lothian scorecard

Full decision

Summary

Mr C complained about the treatment he received from the board for two hernias. He said that a surgeon failed to correctly interpret his scan results, as he failed to identify one of the hernias. However, we found that the surgeon had interpreted the scan correctly and had identified the second hernia. Mr C also complained that the surgeon said that he would be contacted in a week's time about another appointment, but there was then a ten-week delay in providing him with an appointment.

There was no evidence that the surgeon told Mr C he would be contacted in a week. The surgeon had recorded that he would discuss the scan with radiologists and one of his colleagues who specialised in abdominal wall repair. He also said that Mr C should continue to try to lose weight to improve the chances of repairing the hernias. In view of this, we found that the ten-week gap between his appointments was reasonable.

Mr C then cancelled the appointment due to work commitments. He complained about the board's delay in arranging a further appointment. We found that four and half months was too long for him to wait for another appointment and upheld his complaint about this delay.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201100716 as a PDF (13.96 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

View original on SPSO (Scottish Publ… website

Other decisions involving Lothian NHS Board

Reference Date Summary Outcome
202404449 01 Jan 2026 C complained about the care that their adult child (A) received from the prison healthcare team and particularly a failure … Upheld
202304800 01 Mar 2025 C complained that the board failed to provide reasonable personal care and treatment to their sibling (A). A was admitted … Upheld
202304367 01 Dec 2024 C complained on behalf of their spouse (A) about the standard of care and treatment received in the months before … Partly Upheld
202005296 01 May 2022 C complained that there had been an unreasonable delay in their late parent (A) receiving a prescription of antibiotics following … Upheld
202002582 01 Jan 2021 C complained about the clinical care provided to their child (A) by the board, specifically, that a Chiari malformation (where … Not Upheld
View all decisions for this organisation