Investigation reports

A Trust’s failure to accurately report on a patient’s CT scan meant she and her family could not prepare for her end-of-life care.

A woman complained that her late husband was not treated properly for pain and swelling in his leg.  We found he was appropriately looked after in the Emergency Department of Craigavon Area Hospital, but were concerned that medical staff did not record discussions they had with him about his care.

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust cared appropriately for a cancer patient and communicated properly with her family during her treatment.

The South Eastern Health Trust failed to tell a man about changes to his mother’s nutritional plan and the process of her palliative care.

A patient was in pain for longer than necessary because of delays by the Belfast Trust to obtain the results of a private MRI scan.

Our report criticised a GP practice after a delay in providing a woman’s medication caused her unnecessary discomfort.

Delays by the Northern Trust in replying to a woman’s telephone calls added to her anxiety about her mother’s care.  We recommended that the Trust apologise to the woman and make improvements to its complaint handling procedures.

We found that the Southern Trust should have put in place a plan to treat and monitor a patient’s symptoms earlier than it did.

A woman complained about her father’s treatment in hospital during the last weeks of his life. We found he was looked after properly, but were critical that consultants did not respond to a request from the woman to discuss his care plan.

We upheld a complaint that a man should not have been on the same anti-depressant medication without a review for more than 5 years.