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Case summaries

These short, anonymised stories show the profound impact that failures in public services can have on the lives of individuals and their families.

Please note we have not published any new case summaries on this page since 2015. In April 2021 we began publishing our casework decision statements and investigation reports on our decisions portal. 

 

Type
Type
Health cases only
Trust failed to follow policy after patient fell out of bed
Summary 1085 |
Mr D's wife complained about the care her husband received after a fall at home. She believed her husband died as a direct result of the poor care he received in hospital. She was extremely distressed by the possibility that his death could have been avoided.
Faults in nursing, communication and complaint handling
Summary 1083 |
Mrs E complained about a surgical procedure that resulted in a prolonged hospital stay. She also raised concerns about nursing care and the way the Trust communicated with her, as well as its complaint handling.
Shortfalls in Trust's discharge processes
Summary 1082 |
Ms R complained about the care her late mother, Mrs F, received from the Trust before she died. She felt that her mother's death was avoidable.
Doctors could not have predicted that a woman with ovarian cancer would have died as quickly as she did
Summary 1080 |
Ms L complained that her mother, Mrs K, was not diagnosed sooner with ovarian cancer by her GP and doctors, and that subsequent hospital care, including pain relief, was poor. Ms L also complained that doctors overestimated how much time her mother had left to live and consequently did not urge Ms L to return home from her holiday sooner. Ms L said the Trust took too long to answer her complaint.
A Trust failed to give appropriate pressure area care and did not communicate woman's deterioration to her family
Summary 1078 |
Mrs D complained about several aspects of her mother's, care and treatment following surgery to repair a rectal prolapse (when part of the rectum protrudes through the anus). Mrs D said she believed poor care and treatment had led to her mother's avoidable death, and that poor communication denied the family the chance to prepare themselves for her death.
Fatal blood clot could have been prevented
Summary 1077 |
An older woman died of a preventable pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the artery from the heart to the lungs), but she would have died from a heart attack even if the embolism had not developed.