Summary
Mr C's late mother (Mrs A) was receiving palliative care (end of life care) for advanced pancreatic cancer at home in a sheltered housing complex. Mr C contacted the out-of-hours service a number of times over a weekend, as he was concerned about the amount of pain that Mrs A was in. On the Sunday evening, Mrs A was admitted to hospital and transferred to a hospice the following day, where she died several days after. Mr C complained that the board failed to provide a reasonable standard of medical care and treatment and that they failed to respond to his complaint in a reasonable way.
We took independent advice from a specialist in general practice medicine. We found that the medical care and treatment provided to Mrs A was of a reasonable standard and that she was admitted to hospital within a reasonable time. In relation to complaints handling, we found that the board had fully addressed the issues raised and took account of the evidence available at the time. We did not uphold Mr C's complaints.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201702329 as a PDF (11.08 KB) Updated: December 2, 2018