Investigation reports

A man said his autistic son’s health deteriorated because the Western Trust did not properly address his needs. Our investigation found that the Trust failed to provide a reasonable level of care and support to both the boy and his family over a 21-year period.

A woman complained that nursing staff failed to meet her late mother’s personal hygiene needs while she was in hospital. She also complained about the Trust’s decision not to carry out a planned kidney operation.

A woman complained about the care provided by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to her late father in his final weeks. We upheld parts of the complaint.

A patient complained that the Trust should have changed her waiting list status to ‘urgent’ following a request by her GP.  We did not uphold the complaint.

A Health Trust’s failure to carry out tests on a man with an undiagnosed heart condition left his family with unanswered questions following his death.

The Belfast Trust was right to perform an invasive test on an elderly patient but should have given him more information on its risks.

A man claimed that prison authorities unfairly denied him treatment for his opioid addiction.  We did not uphold the complaint but made observations on the case for the Trust to consider going forward.

The daughter of an elderly cancer patient complained that her syringe driver was removed in the days before her death, causing her to experience unnecessary pain.

A man complained about the treatment he received for his fractured rib.  We did not uphold the complaint.

The Western Trust approved two special chairs for an autistic child to use in school without properly assessing his needs. The Trust should also have given the school clearer instructions on how the chairs were to be used.