Decision Report 201507947

Summary

Ms C complained about the treatment she received after fracturing her ankle and that she had attended unnecessary out-patient appointments.

Ms C underwent surgery on her ankle at Western Infirmary. As she continued to suffer constant pain in the ankle and restricted mobility, she was referred to orthopaedic appointments at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and she received different opinions on treatment options. Ms C was dissatisfied with the explanations she was given about her ankle and the treatment options.

We took independent advice from a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon. They noted that the orthopaedic care and treatment received by Ms C had been appropriate and was within the range of standard medical practice. Although Ms C had seen several doctors, their opinions fell within the range of accepted treatments. Therefore we did not uphold this aspect of Ms C's complaint.

We accepted that it must have been both inconvenient and frustrating for Ms C to have attended unnecessary out-patient appointments. The board had apologised to Ms C for this and acknowledged that on one occasion the correct patient hospital appointments process was not followed by staff and that they had taken action to address this. While we considered the board's action to have been reasonable, we made a recommendation relating to this.

Recommendations

We recommended that the board:

• provide evidence of the action taken on staff feedback and training with regard to issuing patients with hospital appointments.