NHS Fife ordered to apologise after patient died following discharge without repeated blood test

An NHS board has been ordered to apologise after a patient died after being discharged without repeated blood tests.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) instructed NHS Fife to apologise to the child of a patient, referred to as C to protect their anonymity.

C complained about the treatment that their late parent, referred to as A, had received after being readmitted to hospital two days after being discharged.

A was admitted to hospital but was discharged later that month, however, two days after discharge, A was readmitted and died a short time later.

The SPSO investigated the claims with advice from a consultant in geriatric and general medicine and found that there had been failings in the board’s treatment of the patient.

While the watchdog found that some of the care given to A was “reasonable”, they found that the patient did not have repeated blood tests despite them being unwell for several days before being discharged.

The SPSO said that while A’s previous blood tests were normal, A being unwell for several days could have resulted in them developing kidney impairment if levels of hydration in the body became low.

They stated that A’s blood tests were not repeated prior to discharge, and had the patient received blood tests prior to discharge, it is likely that the test would have been abnormal which would have resulted in A remaining in hospital.

These findings led the watchdog to uphold C’s complaint regarding their late parent not being provided with reasonable care and treatment.

They also found that the board did not address C’s concerns in sufficient detail including specific concerns in relation to the comments of a nurse.

The watchdog also found that there was a lack of attention given to the reasons for readmission and a lack of reflection by the medical team to ensure lessons were learned.

Therefore, the SPSO ordered the board to apologise to C.

NHS Fife has been contacted for comment.