Nursing staff delayed giving medication and pain relief to terminally ill cancer patient

What happened

Miss R was in her twenties and had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She went to A&E with severe pain. Staff gave her pain relief and discharged her home the same day.

Miss R was admitted to hospital a few days later because her condition had got worse and her pain was uncontrolled. Staff gave her palliative chemotherapy, which made her severely sick. Mrs R believed this weakened her daughter. The ward doctor said that Miss R had not been given the antisickness medication she should have had after the chemotherapy. Miss R continued to be in pain and regularly asked for more pain relief. She died in hospital from her cancer.

In addition, Mrs J complained about the attitude of a doctor in A&E who, she claimed, said Miss R was addicted to medication.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. Although there was an appropriate plan in place to manage Miss R's pain, there were times when nursing staff did not respond quickly enough when she said she was in pain. We could not find out why Miss R did not receive her antisickness medication after the chemotherapy, but something had clearly gone wrong for this to happen. As a result of this, Miss R suffered avoidable pain and sickness. This distressed her and her family.

There was no evidence to support Mrs R's concerns about the A&E doctor.

Putting it right

The Trust wrote to Mrs R to apologise for the failings in her daughter's pain relief and antisickness medication, and for the distress these had caused. It also explained what processes it has put in place since to prioritise pain management on its wards.