Decision Report 201508373

Summary

Miss C suffered burns to her legs and attended A&E at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. She complained that she had received an inadequate standard of treatment and that she had been inappropriately discharged. She said that she had been discharged the same day, despite being unsteady on her feet, and that she was asked to attend a burns clinic the following day. Miss C said that on attendance at the burns clinic, she was admitted to the hospital and spent two weeks as an in-patient.

We took independent medical advice from a consultant in emergency medicine. The adviser said that Miss C had been appropriately assessed at the hospital and that it was reasonable for her to have been discharged once her pain had been brought under control. They noted that Miss C had been accompanied and that her discharge had been in line with standard practice. The adviser also noted that there was no defined standard for admission with the type of burn Miss C had sustained and that her medical records supported the decision not to admit her. Miss C's subsequent admission had been prolonged due to an infection in her wound, which had not been present at the time of her first attendance. Miss C's length of stay was therefore not due only to the severity of her burns.

We found that the board acted reasonably both in terms of the care and treatment provided to Miss C and in terms of the decision to discharge her. We therefore did not uphold Miss C's complaint.