Investigation reports

We upheld a number of complaints against the Northern Health Trust, including that hospital staff did not give an elderly patient enough fluids, nor appropriately monitor her over a 24-hour period.

We found that the Western Health Trust should have diagnosed a patient at an earlier stage, given his symptoms, test results, and observations.

A man sought assurance that his wife had been cared for appropriately in hospital.  We partially upheld the complaint.

The Ombudsman has found that Belfast Health and Social Care Trust should have communicated more clearly with a patient’s family before she was discharged from hospital into respite care.

We upheld a complaint about the way in which a resident was fed by care home staff, causing her to choke and vomit.

A check by the Belfast Trust to see whether a nursing home resident was entitled to continuing healthcare was incorrect.  We asked it to carry out a new assessment.

A woman complained that her late father was “left to suffer” in pain at the Ulster Hospital.  We found no failures in his care and treatment, but said that the Trust’s communication with the woman during her father's final days could have been clearer.