Scotland Tonight: Families fight for answers after loved ones die amid NHS Fife care failings

Three families in Fife have been left devastated after the care their terminally ill loved ones received from the NHS fell well short of the standards expected.

NHS Fife has formally apologised to the relatives for the failings identified in their care.

But they are continuing their fight for answers and want changes to the way complaints against hospitals are handled.

Rather than making the most of their final weeks and months together, they have been left traumatised by how they were treated.

Trish Nolan, who lost her husband John, said, “Whilst I knew I was going to lose him the effects of what happened has left me broken in many places.

“And I don’t feel I can put myself back together.”

Scotland Tonight has been hearing their stories.

John Nolan

John Nolan was a teacher for more than 40 years.

He was diagnosed with an aggressive bladder cancer in March 2020.

When his condition worsened two years later, he was taken by ambulance to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy where he was met by a nurse.

His wife Trish said: “I’ll never forget her words. She said, put them in there.

“The paramedic questioned it and said, that’s a sitting room. It’s not an appropriate place for them.

“He was bleeding profusely. He had no control of his bowel or his bladder, and the indignity in that apart from anything else, because he was still very aware.

“And he kept grabbing my arm and saying, ‘Help me. Help me’.

“I couldn’t get anybody to come in and kept saying, he’s not a priority.

“That was the words, he’s not a priority. I said he was a planned admission through the cancer helpline. He was brought in by ambulance for an appointment.

John was in hospital for three and a half weeks.

He died on June 20, 2020.

Trish had raised concerns after his first admission to Victoria Hospital, but initially did not want to go through the process of a formal complaint.

In October she met with the head of patient experience, or HOPE for short.

“And it turned out that she was a clinical nurse manager on the ward that I had had all the issues about, so I felt it was a conflict of interest.

“She’s taking a complaint about her colleagues at this point.”

Trish has since been diagnosed with PTSD by a psychologist, much of it put down to what she witnessed in hospital.

It took more than a year after first raising concern for Trish to get a response from NHS FIfe.

To this day their letter remains unopened as Trish has lost trust in the NHS.

NHS Fife acknowledged there were aspects of Mr Nolan’s care that did not meet the standards patients should expect and apologised to the Nolan family.

Agnes McLean

Agnes McLean went into Victoria Hospital with severe leg and back pain.

She was moved to the Queen Margaret in Dunfermline after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Her daughter Mandy said: “She was very frightened about being in hospital, that was the thing she was frightened.”

It was only after her mother’s death that Mandy discovered she had been keeping a diary.

On February 22, 2022 Agnes wrote: “Nurse came into the ward today shouting at 4am in the morning for everyone to get up, that this was no holiday camp but an assessment ward. I feel really worried, don’t feel safe, just want to get home as soon as possible.”

Mandy and her sister Debbie have been going through their mother’s medical records, trying to find out more about why she died so quickly.

They had been assured she would be returning home.

On one of her last visits, Debbie – a former matron in a nursing home – was horrified by what she witnessed.

“I could hear a scream and I recognised it to be my mum.

“So I rushed up to where mum’s bed was and the curtains were closed and whatever they were doing she was in exception pain and I shouted ‘stop’ and I went and I looked in the curtain and I could see my mum and she was distressed and I saw four staff and I said what were you doing?

“They said, oh we’re trying to help your mum move up the bed. And I said, well how are you lifting her then? And I said, have you not got a slide sheet or something and they said, oh we’ve got a sheet but it’s in the cupboard.

“And I said, do you not think you should be taking that out of the cupboard and doing it right. And I said, I don’t want to interfere, but I’ll go and I’ll sit outside but I’m not leaving. And the screaming just continued on.”

Four days later, Agnes passed away.

Her family received an apology from NHS Fife.

But they are continuing to fight for greater transparency and accountability.

Linda Dunn

Hiram Dunn had planned to make the most of the time he had with his wife Linda after she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

But a catalogue of errors in her care at the Victoria Hospital overshadowed their final days together.

“She was left for two and a half hours in a waiting room sitting on a seat which wasn’t designed for her terminally ill condition, with a skeletal frame, fluid is draining out of her arms all over for two and a half hours.”

It was only when she got home he realised the full extent of what had gone wrong.

“At 4am in the morning, she was telling me her experience. She hadn’t had any water for 13 hours. She never got a medication, her steroids, because she wasn’t properly booked in.”

Linda died four days after suffering a stroke.

Hiram took pictures of her arm which swelled up after a cannula was inserted wrongly.

“That was the only agony or pain that she had not from the cancer, it was from the damage and the harm they caused her in that ward.”

Hiram was left furious after being told a lot of his questions around his wife’s care would have to go unanswered.

He took his case to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman – the final stage for complaints about public service organisations in Scotland.

It agreed that NHS Fife had failed to provide appropriate care and treatment.

It also included nine recommendations for the health board to put in place within a strict timeframe.

“I filed that complaint to the ombudsman because I was getting nowhere with NHS Fife.

“You’re supposed to deal through patient relations but patient relations work for NHS Fife so they’re investigating themselves.”

“I want to see an independent body, same as like what the police have got.”

After a career devoted to public service in the armed forces, Hiram feels badly let down by how he and his wife were treated by the NHS.

“If you’re a healthcare professional, you should be caring and help, especially someone who is at the end of their life.

“The excuse of we are all under staffed – rubbish. You still do your job. That’s what you signed up for. Do the job.”

Watch
Health secretary responds to complaints over care given to terminally ill patients

Response

NHS Fife director of nursing, Janette Keenan, said: “NHS Fife is committed to delivering safe, compassionate, and person-centred care to every patient we serve.

“The wellbeing and dignity of those in our care is always our highest priority, and we are deeply sorry to hear of any family who feel dissatisfied with the standard of care their loved ones received.

“We always aim to provide care that is of a very high standard.

“The feedback we receive from patients gives us confidence that we achieve this for the vast majority of those we see, which is testament to the skill, dedication and professionalism of our staff.

“We accept, however, that there are occasions where the care we provide falls below the standards that our patients expect and deserve.

“Where any concerns are raised – whether through formal complaints or other feedback – these are taken seriously.

“NHS Fife follows a robust and transparent complaints procedure, in line with national guidance, to ensure that concerns are responded to fully, fairly, and promptly.

“Our complaints process includes a thorough review of the care provided, input from the clinical teams involved, and direct communication with the individuals or families concerned.

“In some more complex cases, this process can take a number of months to complete.

“Where shortcomings are identified, we act swiftly to put measures in place to prevent them from happening again.

“NHS Fife is fully committed to openness, transparency, and accountability in all that we do.”

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “We have reviewed our complaints process to look at making sure it can be as person centred as possible, and that it is a learning exercise for the health service.

“I think that there are robust processes in place that can ensure that people can get the redress that they are looking for.

“I recognize where people find that difficult, and where there are particularly traumatic experiences, that that can still be a difficult process for people, and we’re always looking to make sure that we are being as supportive as possible for people through a complaints process.

“There is also the element of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman being there as a next step, should people wish to take that step.”

Watch the full report on Scotland Tonight at 8.30pm on Thursday on STV and the STV Player.