Investigation reports

Our latest Case Digest features a number of investigations into complaints about care homes. It highlights the importance of good complaints handling and provides some key messages for the families of those in care.

Our investigation found that a complainant was offered good support by the Belfast Trust during her treatment for Anorexia Nervosa.

A man’s cancer treatment was interrupted by the Covid pandemic in March 2020. We found that he should have been reviewed by clinicians as soon as possible after the resumption of face-to-face appointments. 

We found that a GP practice should not have removed a patient from its Patient List without giving him an initial warning. 

A woman complained that the Belfast Trust did not properly investigate the cause of her father’s chest pains. She believed if it had done so he may not have died shortly after being discharged from hospital.

A woman questioned why it took so long for her father to receive surgery in Altnagelvin Area Hospital.  She also claimed that poor communication between staff contributed to his untimely death. 

A GP practice should have had a face-to-face consultation with an elderly patient, despite the Covid restrictions in place at the time. 

A woman raised concerns with the Western Trust about how her late mother was treated in a care home.  We found significant failings in the way the Trust investigated her complaint.

A patient was prescribed diazepam after he complained to his GP about feeling unwell. 

We asked the surgery to apologise after he was later found to have suffered five strokes in the space of a week. 

We found that a pre-admission assessment for a care home resident did not accurately record her mobility, meaning that the home was ill-prepared for her arrival.