Poor cardiology care led to postoperative death and poor complaint handling

What happened

Mr JD was admitted to the Trust in spring 2013 suffering from chest pain. Medical staff diagnosed three-vessel coronary artery disease. Doctors told Mr JD that a coronary artery bypass graft was the better treatment option. However, Mr JD wanted a quicker recovery time so he chose to have a percutaneous coronary intervention (through a needle puncture of the skin), which involved inserting a stent.

Staff gave Mr JD several tests after the operation and declared him fit for discharge in early summer 2014. Sadly he died suddenly at home soon afterwards. It appears he suffered a stent thrombosis. The pathologist's report concluded that Mr JD's death was caused by ischaemic heart disease and that he had died of natural causes.

Mrs D complained to the Trust later in the year and went to a resolution meeting. The Trust did not give her a written response when she  asked for one. Instead she was given of the meeting.

What we found

There were no clinical failings by the Trust, and our adviser said that Mr JD received a good standard of care. Mr JD suffered a very rare complication and sadly this was fatal.

However, there were failings in the Trust's complaint handling because the NHS complaint regulations state that Trusts should reply to a complaint in writing. Recordings of a meeting may be enough if the complainant is satisfied with these; however, if the complainant asks for a report, the Trust should provide one.

Putting it right

The Trust reflected on our comments about its complaint handling and took steps to make sure that this does not happen again. The Trust wrote to Mrs D to acknowledge this, and sent us a copy of the letter.