Trust did not have all relevant information when it decided to discharge patient

What happened

Mrs B was in hospital for five days to receive antibiotics and treatment for her infection. Staff planned to follow her up one week later but Mrs B was readmitted to hospital the following day. Sadly one month later she died.

Mrs B's daughter complained that Mrs B received poor nursing care during her first admission, including lack of food and fluids, and that her mother's regular medications were not prescribed for her when she was in hospital. She also complained about the decision to discharge her mother when she was still unwell.

What we found

The nursing care provided could have been better but the Trust had already acknowledged this and had apologised and made improvements. However, the decision to discharge Mrs B was not based on complete information. There was no record that Mrs B had vomited and the hospital had prescribed some strong medication for this. This called into question the decision to discharge Mrs B. The Trust did not identify this failing during its investigation of the complaint.

Mrs B's daughter thought that her mother might not have died if the care had been better. Although Mrs B was dehydrated when she was readmitted to hospital, this was quickly sorted out and we did not think that any failings at discharge from the first admission led to Mrs B's death one month later.

Putting it right

The Trust acknowledged the failings identified and apologised for them. It paid Mrs B's daughter £1,000 as an acknowledgement of the failings during Mrs B's first hospital admission, the distress and anxiety caused to Mrs B and her family, and the failure to provide a full response to the complaint.