No fault in decision to transfer patient's treatment to a different hospital

What happened

Mr A needed dialysis three times a week. In summer 2013 his dialysis was moved to a different renal unit because of concerns about his behaviour towards his named nurse.

The nurse said Mr A stroked her arm as she put a blood pressure cuff on him, and he telephoned her later that day to arrange to speak to her individually. Later that week, Mr A handed a note to the nurse. The note thanked the nurse for her care and asked her to speak to him in a private room after his dialysis had finished.

The nurse showed the note to the sister on the unit. The sister spoke to Mr A while he was dialysing. She explained the note was inappropriate. Mr A apologised, explained he had not intended to upset the nurse, and said it would not happen again.

After his dialysis had finished, Mr A spoke to the sister again. According to Mr A, the sister had no further concerns and he believed the matter had been resolved. According to the sister, Mr A claimed the nurse had told him she loved him; however, he then retracted this statement. The sister said she warned Mr A if he continued to harass the nurse, she would have to move his treatment. She said Mr A said he understood but then asked if he could give the nurse a card and gift he had in his bag.

A renal consultant telephoned Mr A later that afternoon to tell him his dialysis would be transferred to a different hospital with immediate effect.

A week later an acknowledgement of responsibilities agreement was hand delivered to Mr A while he was having treatment at the new site. The agreement said it had been alleged Mr A had displayed inappropriate behaviour towards a member of staff. The agreement confirmed Mr A's treatment would remain at the new site. It asked him to refrain from using inappropriate language, gestures or comments towards any member of staff and said he was not to contact staff at the original site. If Mr A did not abide by these conditions he could be excluded from its premises, and criminal or civil proceedings could be taken against him. The acknowledgment of responsibilities agreement was copied to Mr A's GP.

What we found

There was no fault on the part of the Trust with regard to the decision to transfer Mr A's dialysis. The decision was appropriate, given the concerns about Mr A's behaviour.

On the whole, the Trust's handling of the matter was reasonable. However, the Trust was at fault for issuing an acknowledgement of responsibilities agreement to Mr A. He had not displayed any further inappropriate behaviour after he was given an informal warning by the renal consultant so a further sanction was not needed. This was not in line with the Trust's policy and was unfair to Mr A.

Putting it right

The Trust acknowledged the fault with regard to the acknowledgement of responsibilities agreement and apologised to Mr A. It also removed the acknowledgment of responsibilities agreement from Mr A's health records.