Poor care given to patient prone to constipation

What happened

Mrs C's family complained to the Trust because they said she was not given proper care and treatment for her constipation. They say they were unhappy about many aspects of her care, including that they had to ask for extra fluids for her.

Mrs C died and the family wanted the Trust to investigate their complaints.  

What we found

There were several failings in Mrs C's care and treatment. The Trust did not complete a plan to monitor Mrs C's bowel, did not give her an enema when it was prescribed,  constipation medication when she needed it, or extra fluids.

These failings added to Mrs C's constipation and consequent pain and indignity. But we did not find that they contributed to her death.

There were several failings in the Trust's communication, both between members of staff and with Mrs C's family. The nursing staff did not promptly raise concerns with medical staff about Mrs C's constipation and her medication. The Trust also did not discuss with Mrs C's family its decision not to give her planned blood tests.

There were failings in the Trust's complaint handling because it initially did not respond to all the issues the family had raised. Also, the Trust had estimated that it would send a written response to the family within 25 days, but it took three months, and the Trust did not let the family know this.

Putting it right

The Trust apologised for its failings, and agreed to put in place an action plan to stop the same things happening again.