Case summaries

These short, anonymised stories show the profound impact that failures in public services can have on the lives of individuals and their families.

Please note we have not published any new case summaries on this page since 2015. In April 2021 we began publishing our casework decision statements and investigation reports on our decisions portal.

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Trust provided poor care for broken ankle

Summary 564 | November 2014

Mr L broke his ankle and needed medicine to help with the pain.

Cause of penile pain not thoroughly investigated

Summary 563 | November 2014

Mr G thought his cystoscopy caused penile pain. We did not find evidence for this, but his pain should have been discussed and investigated further.

Some poor care for woman with multiple sclerosis but this did not lead to her death

Summary 562 | November 2014

Mr B complained about the care given to his ex–wife, Mrs A, while she was in hospital. Mr B said he believed this had contributed to her death.

Poor complaint handling led to Trust improving its processes

Summary 561 | November 2014

Miss A complained about her outpatient care and also how the Trust handled her complaint.

Mistakes by NHS bursary scheme led to overpayment of bursary

Summary 560 | November 2014

Miss H complained that the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) mismanaged her NHS bursary causing an overpayment and financial hardship.

Poor record keeping by Trust staff led to difficulties in investigating complaint

Summary 559 | November 2014

Mr K complained that the nurse who repositioned his wife's nasal tube used excessive force, which led to her having a severe nosebleed.

Delays to a review meant long wait for funding

Summary 558 | October 2014

Failings by clinical commissioning group when it dealt with a continuing healthcare funding review case.

Poor communication about waiting times for surgery

Summary 557 | October 2014

Mr J complained that the Treatment Centre, which was run by Care UK, an independent provider of health and social care, failed to give him a date for his hernia surgery, although he contacted it several times. He was in such pain that he had the operation privately. He wanted the Treatment Centre to improve its communication and to refund the cost of the surgery. He also raised concerns about how the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) handled his complaint.

Trust failed to communicate effectively with a patient, her GP, or its staff

Summary 556 | October 2014

After Miss A had her appendix out, the Trust did not tell her why it called her back for further tests. When she had more surgery, the Trust did not explain clearly whether a tumour had been cancerous or not.

Trust did not look at a preoperative assessment, which delayed a surgical procedure and distressed a patient

Summary 555 | October 2014

The Trust did not take account of information Miss P gave in her preoperative assessment and this delayed her procedure. Miss P says this caused her great distress and that she had to leave the Trust without having the procedure. Ms P feels that the Trust did not deal with her compassionately or sensitively, considering that her partner had recently passed away.