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Selected Investigations Completed April - September 1999 > Part I, Case no. E.860/98-99
Complaint against:
Ashford and St Peter's Hospital NHS Trust
Summary of case
On 3 July 1997 Mr X sustained wrist injuries as a result of a fall. He arrived at the A and E department at St Peter's Hospital (the NHS hospital), Chertsey at about 12.30pm, and was assessed and treated quickly. At about 2.30pm he was examined by an orthopaedic SHO. It was subsequently planned to admit him to a ward overnight for neurological examination, and that he would have an operation the next day. In the event, nursing staff in the ward were reluctant to accept him; and consequent to a conversation with the orthopaedic SHO, Mrs X agreed that her husband should be transferred to a private hospital located on the same site as the NHS hospital. He was transferred there at 6.00pm. On 4 July Mrs X told the orthopaedic SHO that their private health insurance would not cover the proposed treatment. But when she and her husband learned that the NHS operation list was now full—and the operation could not take place until the evening of 5 July—they agreed to pay for it to be done privately. Mrs X complained about the delay in the A and E department; that the Trust provided her with confusing and incomplete information about the operation and aftercare; and that the Trust had unreasonably refused to reimburse their costs.
Findings
The Ombudsman found that there was a serious failure in communication and a lack of co-ordination in the admission arrangements; and against that background he found that the time Mr X had to wait in the A and E department after 2.30pm was unreasonable. He also found no evidence that staff had properly explained to Mr X that by spending the night in the private hospital he had effectively removed himself from the list on 4 July for an NHS operation. He did not uphold the complaint that the Trust failed to provide appropriate information about aftercare. The Ombudsman considered that Mr and Mrs X must accept some responsibility for their own decision to opt for private treatment. The Trust, acknowledging that there had been some communication failure, had already offered Mr and Mrs X an ex gratia payment of £500 and to waive charges for the CT scan. The Ombudsman considered that was reasonable.
Remedy
The Trust apologised.
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