Summary
C, an advocate, complained on behalf of their client (A). A's appendix was removed after they suffered from acute appendicitis. After the operation A continued to experience pain and had multiple admissions to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital over a period of several months. A was unhappy with the treatment provided by the board in response to their symptoms.
We took independent advice from a general anaesthetist experienced in acute pain services and from a general and colorectal consultant (a surgeon who specialises in conditions in the colon, rectum or anus). We found that the board provided reasonable treatment to A. There were elements of the management of A's symptoms of pain which could have been better, with chronic pain considered earlier once A's infection had resolved. However overall, the board's response to A's symptoms of pain and rectal bleeding were reasonable with reasonable investigations and treatment carried out. Therefore, we did not uphold this complaint.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201901394 as a PDF (24.26 KB) Updated: July 22, 2020