The hospital failed to treat the incontinence and the patient died a few weeks after discharge

A Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board hospital failed to treat a patient’s incontinence and they then died weeks after discharge.

The patient was first admitted to the hospital after a fall in which he fractured his hip; as part of the surgery, a catheter was inserted.

After the catheter was removed, they developed bladder control problems.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Scotland received a complaint from the partner of the deceased patient.

He stated that after the operation, the hospital failed to fix the patient’s bladder problem and that this contributed to their death.

In the board’s initial response to the complaint, they said the patient had been recorded as incontinent three times.

A urine sample was taken, which tested positive for a urinary tract infection, and was treated with antibiotics.

They said that at discharge the patient could go to the toilet by himself and no other mention of incontinence was made.

In the complaint to the Ombudsman, the patient’s partner highlighted a number of other cases of incontinence in the nursing reports.

When asked to explain this, as it contradicted their position in the initial response to the complaint, the health board confirmed whether this information was considered to have prompted additional continence support.

The watchdog, taking advice from an independent nurse, found that despite several references to the patient’s incontinence, “no attempts were made to explore this further”.

As a result, there was a lack of providing adequate care during their hospital stay and any follow-up care after discharge.

However, the report concluded that due to the patient’s other health problems, it was “not possible” to determine the extent of the impact on their death.

It recommended that the board apologize to the patient’s partner and found that their action plan for improvement “addressed failings appropriately”.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “Due to patient confidentiality, we cannot comment on individual cases. We apologize to the family of the patient involved and offer our deepest sympathies for their loss.

“We would like to apologize for the failings highlighted by the SPSO and ensure that the NHSGGC is working to meet all the recommendations made by the SPSO.”