Clinical treatment in hospital : Powys Teaching Health Board

Ms A complained about the care given to her by Powys Teaching Health Board. She said that the Health Board had mismanaged the treatment of a lump in the lower part of her womb because it had misdiagnosed that lump as a polyp (growth) and failed to explain the risks associated with its removal, to give her a local anaesthetic when removing it and to check her related bleeding before allowing her to leave the relevant clinic. She also complained that the Health Board had failed to investigate her complaint about this properly.

The Health Board asked the Ombudsman if it could investigate Ms A’s concerns about her treatment in accordance with the relevant complaint handling regulations (“the Regulations”). It noted, when making that request, that another health body (“the Other Health Body”) had responded to those concerns. It also indicated that the Other Health Body had done that because of the related care that it had given Ms A and its employment of the Consultant Gynaecologist who had treated her as part of a commissioning arrangement. The Ombudsman found that the Health Board had not investigated the clinical care concerns that Ms A had raised in her complaint to her. She was of the view that Ms A had suffered an injustice, in the form of disappointment and distress, because of that.

The Ombudsman considered, in light of the Health Board’s investigation request, that it would be appropriate to try settling Ms A’s complaint. The Health Board subsequently agreed to investigate Ms A’s clinical care concerns in accordance with the Regulations, to formally review its approach to complaints about commissioned care and its handling of her complaint, to prepare an action plan to address any complaint handling failings identified during its complaint handling review and to write to Ms A to update her regarding the outcome of that review. The Ombudsman considered that the action that the Health Board had agreed to take was reasonable. Accordingly, she regarded Ms A’s complaint as settled.