Mrs H had chronic kidney disease. Her husband, Mr H, wanted to be a live kidney donor and blood tests confirmed he was a match. However, in 2006, based purely on information provided by Mr and Mrs H, a kidney specialist decided that Mr H would not be a suitable kidney donor for his wife.
Three years later Mrs H received a kidney from a deceased donor, but unfortunately this kidney's function wasn't up to standard and doctors decided she needed another transplant. Mr H was tested again and found to be a suitable donor. Mrs H had a successful transplant with her husband's kidney in 2012.
Our investigation found there was a missed opportunity for Mr H to donate his kidney to his wife earlier, which caused uncertainty for them both. Mr and Mrs H said that as a result of these failings, Mrs H had suffered ill health and this had affected their welfare. Mr H said that he had been on antidepressants because he was unable to donate a kidney to his wife.
During the course of our investigation, the Trust told us that it proposed to apologise to Mr and Mrs H for the failings we found. We partly upheld this complaint as we felt that this was sufficient to resolve the primary concerns raised.