Trust's delay in reacting to patient's deterioration caused upset but did not contribute to his death

What happened

Mr R was admitted to hospital because he was suffering from confusion. He was diagnosed with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.

After a few days, Mr R became significantly more unwell, and lost consciousness. Unfortunately, he never regained consciousness, and died the following week.

Mrs R complained to the Trust about her husband's care. She said that if he had been treated differently he might have recovered. She was also upset because she was not told that her husband was becoming more unwell, and so she did not have a chance to see him before he lost consciousness.

The Trust responded to her complaint in writing and arranged a meeting to discuss her concerns. She complained to us because she did not agree with the Trust's explanations and she had not received a recording of the meeting.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. There was a delay in reacting to Mr R's worsening condition. However, he became so seriously ill that we did not think there was any treatment that would have helped. The Trust should have told Mrs R sooner that her husband's condition was getting worse. The Trust also took too long to give Mrs R a recording of the meeting.

Putting it right

The Trust acknowledged the delay in reacting to Mr R's deterioration, and explained what it had done to improve its services. It also apologised to Mrs R for not telling her soon enough that Mr R was getting worse. We sent Mrs R a copy of the meeting recording.