BackThis month the Scottish Ombudsman Jim Martin is laying four reports before the Scottish Parliament – three about the NHS and one about Scottish Water. He is laying a report on 61 decisions about all of the sectors under his remit.
Scottish Water Case
The construction of a pumping station built near houses caused concern to local residents. There was significant disruption over almost a decade, and there was damage to some homes during the construction phase. Scottish Water had assured residents that once the building work was complete the disruption they had experienced would be over. Residents have reported that this is not the case and that since the station became operational they have suffered for a number of years from vibration related to it. The Ombudsman considers that Scottish Water has not done enough to address residents’ outstanding concerns about the impact of this development on the value of their properties. Nor have they done enough to address the distress and inconvenience of nine years of disruption on a community of elderly residents, some of whom suffer from serious health conditions. He recommended that Scottish Water assess any impact of the station on relevant property values and compensates residents for any loss of value.
Cases about NHS boards
Three cases about NHS boards have been published involving issues of communication. In one, a woman with gynaecological problems did not undergo the procedure she thought she was to have. Although she had given consent for a particular procedure, her surgeon was unavailable so a locum carried out her operation, and did not obtain her consent for the full procedure she had expected. They then gave her inaccurate information about what they had done.
In another case an elderly man died after being admitted to hospital. Although he had significant ongoing medical problems, he was not properly assessed after falling in hospital and his fractured hip was not diagnosed early enough.
And in the third case, a man recently released from prison was not allowed to see a GP at a medical practice, although his mother had made efforts to enable him to do so. Neither he nor his mother was told in advance that his registration with the practice had been cancelled. He died shortly afterwards from pneumonia, and his mother was concerned that he should have been able to see a GP. The Ombudsman agreed that he should and was critical that he was prevented from doing so, and was also critical of the practice’s handling of later correspondence and of their failure to provide information during the investigation.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman urges health boards and GP practices to read these cases, and ensure that they do everything possible to avoid similar errors in their own procedures and practices.
Additional Support Needs
The issue of additional support needs is the subject in one of the published decision reports this month. In this case, a mother submitted a complaint about her child's additional support needs, and the Ombudsman reminds providers that staff should advise about alternative dispute resolution in such cases. The Education Act 2004 makes provision for this. In such cases, a parent has a right to access independent mediation and adjudication, and has the option of appealing to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal for Scotland. The provider should always make a member of the public aware of this where there is a dispute about support, but in this case, the mother was not told about her rights under the legislation. All providers should satisfy themselves that staff members dealing with this are aware of the need to make members of the public aware of these rights, and of the alternative dispute resolution avenue, and to do so early in the process.
For further information, please view the document below:
Source: The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), United Kingdom
