Summary
Mr C complained about the care he received at a prison healthcare centre after he was diagnosed with diabetes. Mr C was concerned that he did not receive appropriate medical care and treatment or support in relation to his diabetes. He also complained that there had been a delay in providing treatment for thrush, and complained that when he was admitted to hospital, staff at the prison health centre had not informed his next of kin. Finally, Mr C felt that his complaint had not been dealt with appropriately.
After taking independent GP advice, we upheld Mr C's complaint about medical care and treatment. While we found that most aspects of his diabetes care and treatment were reasonable, the adviser highlighted two separate days following hospital discharges where Mr C had not received his prescribed medications. We made recommendations to the board to address this.
We found that the board had taken reasonable steps to provide help and support to Mr C for his diabetes and identified no delays in the provision of thrush treatment. Consequently, we did not uphold these elements of Mr C's complaint. We also did not uphold his complaint about the health centre staff failing to inform his next of kin when he was admitted to hospital as we found that this was a matter for the Scottish Prison Service.
Finally, we upheld Mr C's complaint about the board's handling of his complaints as we found that they had not addressed all the issues raised. We made a recommendation to address this failing.
Recommendations
What we asked the organisation to do in this case: Apologise in writing to Mr C for failing to give him his prescribed medication on two dates.
Apologise in writing to Mr C for failing to address one of the concerns of his complaint.
What we said should change to put things right in future: Medications that have been prescribed to a prisoner in hospital should be made available following discharge.
We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201600541 as a PDF (13.24 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018