The care of a terminally ill patient at a North Wales hospital has been described as “wholly inadequate” by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

A complaint was made to the Ombudsman by the widow of (anonymised) “Mr P” about the care he received in the final weeks of his life, at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire.

The Ombudsman found that:

• The course of clinical treatment offered to Mr P at that stage of his illness was not reasonable (given its slow response rate) in comparison with a treatment he could have been offered which may have prolonged his life expectancy even for a short time.

• Mr P was discharged home without proper arrangements in place.

• The discharge lacked effective communication with both Mr and Mrs P, and raised serious concerns surrounding controlled medication.

• Mrs P had to wait longer than was reasonable for a complaint response from the Health Board.

Nick Bennett, Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, said:

“This investigation has identified a catalogue of failings that I am extremely concerned about.  Quite clearly, aspects of this patient’s care have been wholly inadequate.

“These raise some broad issues that need to be addressed including lack of beds for terminally ill patients, hurried and ill-considered discharge of seriously ill patients, poor quality of documentation and diagnostic issues.

“I have issued a number of recommendations that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has agreed to implement, and my office will be following up to make sure those recommendations are fully complied with.”

Ends

Notes to Editor:

For more information / media bids please contact Communications and Policy Officers Matt Aplin on 01656 644218 or Lucy Geen on 01656 644203 or e-mail: communications@ombudsman-wales.org.uk;

Full report is attached.

This report is issued under section 16 of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005 (“the PSOW Act”).

In accordance with the provisions of the PSOW Act, the report has been anonymised so that, as far as possible, any details which might cause individuals to be identified have been amended or omitted.

• The office of Public Services Ombudsman for Wales was established, with effect from 1 April 2006, by the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005.  The Ombudsman investigates complaints of injustice caused by maladministration or service failure by the following public bodies in Wales:

• Welsh Government and public bodies it sponsors
• National Health Service bodies, including GPs
• local authorities, including community councils; fire and rescue authorities; national park authorities; countryside and environmental organisations. The jurisdiction of the Public Services Ombudsman also extends to the investigation of allegations that members of this last group of organisations have breached the code of conduct.
• registered social landlords (such as housing associations)
• independent care organisations.

• A photograph of the Ombudsman is available in jpeg format on request. A copy of the investigation report will also be available on the Ombudsman’s website:  www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk