Trust's poor communication and Council's failure to make appropriate sick leave arrangements led to anxiety and distress

What happened

Mr B went into hospital in autumn 2013 after he fell at home. His Family were unhappy about the care at the hospital so Mr B was transferred to a private suite and they paid for his care. During this time, his condition deteriorated. Mr B did not take his regular medication for fluid retention, and it was started again five days later at a lower dose than usual. The next day, Mr B was transferred to an NHS rehabilitation ward. He started antibiotics five days later for a urinary tract infection, however, he deteriorated further.

He developed fluid on the lungs as a result of his heart condition, and was treated for a chest infection. Mr B's condition stabilised and he was discharged home the next month. There was some confusion in how paperwork was sent from the Trust to a social worker, especially when the social worker was absent on sick leave.

The morning after Mr B arrived home, his Family called an ambulance and Mr B was taken to another hospital where he suffered a heart attack. He was discharged home again the next month.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. We investigated this complaint jointly with the Local Government Ombudsman because it concerned the actions of a local authority as well as an NHS organisation.

There was fault in the initial care given to Mr B. However, the Trust took action and we were satisfied this had addressed this issue. We did not find fault in Mr B's discharge from the rehabilitation ward or the information given in the discharge letter. We found no evidence of fault in the care and treatment on the rehabilitation ward, although the Trust was at fault because it could not give us copies of Mr B's physiotherapy records or his full occupational therapy records. However, this fault did not lead to an injustice. We found fault in the Trust's communication with Mr B's family, which led to anxiety and distress, and also in the way the complaint was handled.

The Council failed to make sure alternative arrangements and contacts were made available when the social worker working on Mr B's case was absent from work.

Putting it right

The Trust wrote to Mrs A to acknowledge the fault identified, and to apologise for the anxiety and distress this caused. It also drew up plans to address the faults found and reassure Mrs A that it would make improvements to make sure that it takes learning from what happened.

The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs A for the delay in responding to her original complaint in early 2014 and for the failure to update the social worker's voicemail. They also agreed to make sure there were systems in place to effectively manage social workers' caseloads when they were absent, including the need to divert calls or change messages when front line staff were absent from work.