NHS Highland apologises to family of cancer patient and makes changes after not explaining tests being carried out
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A family complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) about a failure to accurately diagnose and treat a patient’s pancreatic cancer.
The patient, who has since died, was being investigated by Raigmore Hospital.
The family complained too many tests were carried out and an accurate diagnosis was not established.
A spokeswoman for the SPSO said independent medical advice identified that the patient, known as A, had an advanced pancreatic cancer which can be difficult to diagnose.
“We considered that repetition of invasive tests was reasonably required in order to pursue a diagnosis,” she said. “We noted, however, that A’s lung abnormalities were discussed by a lung multidisciplinary team (MDT), but an upper gastrointestinal MDT was not involved despite the fact the suspicion of pancreatic cancer could not be ruled out. We fed this back to the board.”
She added: “However, overall, we considered that there was a comprehensive attempt to obtain a diagnosis. On balance, we did not uphold this complaint.”
The family also complained about a failure to communicate clearly regarding the diagnosis, saying they were never made aware cancer was suspected.
The spokeswoman continued: “We considered that the risks and benefits of these tests should have been clearly discussed with the patient, in order for them to have made a fully informed decision as to whether to proceed with them. In the circumstances, we upheld this complaint.”
An NHS Highland spokeswoman said it accepted the SPSO’s findings and had apologised.
She said changes had been made to ensure patients have a clear explanation of the purpose of any proposed investigation or treatment including GPs being asked to provide written confirmation the patient is aware they have been referred as an urgent suspected cancer patient and that clinical staff discuss and document discussions with the patient, and their family if appropriate, to establish that possible cancer is being investigated.
