Patient with 'perforated bowel' made own way to hospital after Scottish Ambulance Service failings

A patient with a perforated bowel was forced to make their own way to hospital after an ambulance crew did not provide “adequate” care.

The patient contacted the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) when they began experiencing abdominal pain.

An ambulance was dispatched but did not take the patient to hospital, and told them to call again if the symptoms “worsened”.

The patient called again the next day but after they were only given a telephone assessment they took themselves to hospital.

After being looked over at hospital, it was determined the patient needed surgery for a perforated bowel.

The patient complained that the paramedics failed to recognise the seriousness of their symptoms and didn’t provide appropriate care, which they believe resulted in a more extensive surgery.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) investigated the complaints, with advice from a paramedic, and found that the ambulance crew had unreasonably failed to carry out an adequate assessment of the patient.

The watchdog also found that the ambulance crew did not provide adequate advice on the risks of not completing their assessment after the patient refused further evaluation.

The SPSO said that the telephone assessment was “inadequate and poorly documented”, and upheld the patient’s claims.

The watchdog ordered the SAS to apologise and recommended a number of improvements as well as asking for evidence the service had implemented them.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We would like to take this opportunity again to apologise to the patient.

“We identified the areas for learning in the internal review of the complaint, and will ensure the SPSO recommendations are also implemented in relation to this case.”