01-05-2025
NHS Lanarkshire 'sorry' after patient visited A&E five times before cancer diagnosis
A Scots health board has apologised after a patient attended A&E a total of five times before receiving a diagnosis of bladder cancer. The patient, who has not been named, was using a catheter by themselves due to a history of recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs). NHS Lanarkshire provided them with a long-term catheter to be changed every three months. Over the course of several months, they visited A&E five times before they were admitted and ultimately diagnosed with cancer . Their spouse made a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), which has been upheld, reports STV . The spouse was not satisfied with the lack of arrangements to change the catheter and that it took several A&E visits before their partner was admitted, and believed that appointment requests were "ignored". The watchdog sought independent advise from specialist medics ; a consultant urologist, a consultant in emergency medicine and a medical director who specialises in palliative care. It found that, as the long-term catheter was a trial, the patient's progress should have been followed up on. There were also "unreasonable" delays in the patient getting an appointment with the urologist and being informed of their diagnosis . While NHS Lanarkshire found it to be reasonable that the patient was not admitted sooner for examination, it acknowledged there was a "missed opportunity". The spouse's complaint that the diagnosis and discharge process were not clearly explained was also upheld. SPSO found the board had made a "reasonable effort" to explain the cancer diagnosis , but failed to discuss the "challenges" with the patient reaching the end of their life once they had been sent home. It was also discovered, in relation to the handling of the complaint, that information given to the patient's partner and the SPSO was "inaccurate in places and incomplete". The ombudsman made several recommendations, including that the NHS board apologise to the spouse. Adverse events should also be investigated, patients should be given "timely" follow-ups based on their clinical needs, and planning discharges should be "person-centred and holistic". Russell Coulthard, director of acute services at NHS Lanarkshire, said: 'We fully accept the recommendations within the Ombudsman's report and the lessons learned in this patient's care will be shared with staff to help avoid similar occurrences in future. 'We have also written to the family offering our sympathies and our apologies .'
