Blood cancer patient given infusion 'incorrectly' was underfed and dehydrated

A patient being treated for blood cancer was not given an infusion “correctly” and was underfed and dehydrated, an investigation has found.

A complaint was lodged against NHS Highland after their myeloma treatment was delayed by staff “failing to provide specialists with blood samples for analysis”.

The complainant claimed the patient was not given an infusion correctly, as nurses failed to provide intravenous fluids first to ensure the patient was hydrated.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) found that staff had not followed written instructions for the administration of the patient’s treatment and that they had consumed around 15% of the food and water that they should have prior to infusion.

The watchdog said staff had not taken steps to address the patient’s pain management which was said by the complainant to be “significant and avoidable”.

It was also said the board’s investigation into the complaint was not of a reasonable standard.

The SPSO recommended NHS Highland apologise for “failing to provide the patient with a reasonable standard of nursing care and for failing to provide complainant with a reasonable response to their complaint”.

A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: “NHS Highland accepts the Ombudsman’s findings for this case and has apologised for the failings identified.

“This is not the standard we wish to provide in NHS Highland.

“We have made changes to our processes to ensure robust and accurate investigation of complaints takes place by an appropriate person in an acceptable time limit.

“The recommendations of the Ombudsman’s report have been shared with the staff involved.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that the recommendations are acted upon, and evidence of this is provided to the SPSO to demonstrate that we have learned from this.”