Menu

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. 

 

Type
Type
Health cases only
No failings in treatment of elderly patient
Summary 504 |
Mrs S had a fractured hip and multiple illnesses. She went into hospital, where she died two weeks later. The Trust gave her good care throughout.
GP and acute trust failed to diagnose cancer
Summary 503 |
Mrs W complained that she had gone to her GP and A&E at the Trust regularly but they did not properly investigate her symptoms. She was later diagnosed with cancer.
Family distressed by trust's poor record keeping and complaint handling
Summary 502 |
Mr F was very ill when he went into hospital at the Trust. Ms F, Mr F's sister, complained that the Trust did not discuss his treatment appropriately, and that its poor care and treatment caused his death. We found failings in record keeping and complaint handling.
Doctor gave inadequate regard to lasting power of attorney
Summary 501 |
Mrs P had a lasting power of attorney that gave her authority to make decisions on her mother, Mrs Q's, behalf. She complained that a doctor pressured her into agreeing that her mother could be moved to another hospital for emergency treatment when this was against Mrs Q's wishes.
Wrong diagnosis led to three years of unnecessary steroids
Summary 500 |
Mrs M was wrongly diagnosed with lupus. She took steroids for this for three years while the Trust carried out more investigations. Her correct diagnosis of fibromyalgia was found and treated by a different trust.
Mistakes and complaint handling delays led to payment
Summary 499 |
Mr D's application for continuing care funding was turned down and he believed that NHS England, who made the final decision on it, had not dealt with the application properly or reached the correct decision. Mr D asked us to look into what had happened.