Investigation reports

An investigation into a man’s complaint has found that the conditions on a hospital ward did not cause his wife to contract pneumonia.

Investigation concludes that observations should have been carried out and discharge delayed until patient was well enough to tolerate fluids and food.

Ombudsman finds that man’s ‘red-eye’ should have been monitored more closely, and that an earlier diagnosis would have improved the chances of his vision being retained.

An Ombudsman investigation has found that a hospital patient should have been given higher levels of fluid in the days before he died, but that while this may have prolonged his life for a time his death could not have been avoided.

The Ombudsman has found that staff from the Ulster Hospital followed full and appropriate procedures when they discharged a patient who had been in their High Dependency Unit while undergoing treatment for a serious illness.

Health and Social Care Trust agrees to Ombudsman ‘action plan’ to improve the way it deals with families during investigations into Serious Adverse Incidents.

An investigation has found that appropriate and timely intervention may have alleviated a patient's discomfort and distress in the last weeks of her life.  The Ombudsman found a number of failures by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust in relation to the patient's nutritional care and treatment, and failings with regard to some aspects of her nursing care and treatment.