NHS Orkney told to apologise to fractured spine patient over multiple failings in care
A watchdog has told a health board to apologise to a car crash victim for “significant failings” in his treatment including risking paralysis by not diagnosing his spine fracture.
The patient was treated at Balfour Hospital in Orkney following a car accident but was not given a spine x-ray despite complaining about back pain, an investigation found.
He was only given paracetamol for the pain but when he was airlifted to another hospital, doctors there discovered he had fractured his spine.
A support worker complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) on behalf of the patient, claiming he “could have been paralysed”.
A consultant in emergency medicine who carried out an investigation for the SPSO said medical staff at Balfour Hospital who allowed the injured man to sit up “created a considerable risk of him sustaining an injury to his spinal cord and becoming paralysed”.
The watchdog has asked NHS Orkney to apologise in writing to the patient, known as Mr A.
The SPSO said in a report: “We found multiple significant failings in the care and treatment provided to Mr A.
“These included a failure to examine and x-ray Mr A’s spine; a failure to obtain x-rays of Mr A’s neck, chest and pelvis; a failure to assess and clean a wound in Mr A’s arm in a timely manner; a failure to administer antibiotics in a timely manner; and a failure to administer appropriate pain medication.
” We also found that the treatment provided was not appropriately documented in the medical records.”
The SPSO also asked the health board to provide evidence it had carried out a review into the case and had examined the systems and staff training for the initial management of seriously-injured patients.
A further complaint that a wound in Mr A’s leg was not cleaned properly, leading to infections, was not upheld.
The car accident happened on August 20 last year.
NHS Orkney chief executive Cathie Cowan said: “I am very sorry and fully accept that Mr A did not receive the appropriate clinical treatment when he presented at our A&E department following a road traffic accident.”
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