Dying patient sent on three-hour taxi journey with no oxygen after blunder by NHS staff
13th October 2010
A dying cancer patient was sent 80 miles by taxi after a blunder by NHS staff, it was revealed today.
The 62-year-old man was sent between hospitals by cab - without oxygen or medical care on the three-hour journey.
An inquiry revealed the patient was unable to have the treatment when he eventually arrived at the second hospital - and he died a few days later.
The patient was taken on a three-hour taxi ride from Bronglais Hospital
across Wales to to Singleton Hospital without medical care
Health watchdog Peter Tyndall said: 'Unfortunately, his cancer was terminal - he hadn't long to live.
'What should properly have happened is that he should have been made as comfortable as possible for his last few days. The whole episode was badly managed.'
An investigation revealed NHS staff later tried to cover up the blunder by faking official records - falsely claiming the man's wife had agreed to go with him.
Health officials were today ordered to apologise over the scandal.
Mr Tyndall, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, said the patient suffered from lung cancer and brain tumours which left him confused.
He was being moved to a larger hospital to undergo radiotherapy but was too ill to have the treatment.
The patient died within days of his transfer from Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth to Singleton Hospital in Swansea.
The patient was transferred from Bronglais Hospital. NHS staff later tried to cover up the blunder.
The investigation found he was not properly assessed to discover if he had the mental capacity to agree to the transfer.
The ombudsman said there was no evidence to show the man was judged safe to travel alone - and that record keeping was "substandard", with documents "poorly completed" by staff.
The investigation found that a ward sister had falsified an entry into the patient's medical records more than a year after he had died.
Mr Tyndall said: 'This was a deliberate attempt to mislead and obstruct his investigation.'
The nurse, who has not been named, is facing disciplinary proceedings from the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
A Hywel Dda Health Board spokesman said: 'We very much regret the failings identified by the ombudsman, both in relation to the complaint and the conduct of a member of staff during the investigation.
'The health board has now put in place procedures and plans to avoid a similar recurrence of the issues identified.
'A letter of apology will be forwarded to the family, with an assurance the ombudsman's recommendations have been taken seriously and that an action plan has been developed to address them.'
Source; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... ds-newsxml
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