Elderly patient let down by orthotic clinics

What happened

Mrs B, an older lady, needed special orthotic footwear and was referred to the hospital's orthotics in early 2009. She remained under the care of this clinic until the end of 2011 and went to many appointments during this time.

There were several problems with the fit of Mrs B's footwear and in early 2012 Mrs B transferred to another hospital's orthotic clinic, but continued to have problems. Mrs B's daughter complained to the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which explained that the difficulties with Mrs B's footwear were due to changes in her clinical condition.

Mrs B's daughter complained to us about the care from both clinics and also the complaint response from the local CCG.

What we found

There was a minor failing in the service provided by the first hospital. The initial orthotic product was not delivered within the time specified and Mrs B was not told about this, so she had an unnecessary journey to hospital.

The hospital had taken reasonable actions to measure Mrs B and order appropriate footwear for her, but her clinical condition was changing so rapidly that the footwear was not suitable by the time it was delivered.

The second hospital had failed to record important details about Mrs B's feet and legs, the prescription specification, and the clinical reasoning for its decisions. This contributed to the poor fit of Mrs B's footwear as the manufacturer did not have enough information to make an appropriate product. There were failings in informing Mrs B when her product had not been delivered in time for her appointment.

The CCG did not handle this complaint correctly as it did not see any failings in the care provided by the two orthotic clinics.

Putting it right

All three organisations we investigated apologised to Mrs B. Both hospital Trusts agreed to produce action plans to show learning from this complaint. The second hospital paid her £250 in recognition of the inconvenience and distress she suffered.