Take paracetamol, dying man told
Updated on 23 May 2007
An out-of-hours health service that saw a GP prescribe painkillers to a patient who died in agony a few hours later has been criticised.
Scotland's public service Ombudsman ruled a receptionist did not pass on crucial information about the dying man, while a doctor who called him failed to ask the right questions.
It led to the victim being told to take paracetamol less than three hours hours before he died from acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Professor Alice Brown said the poor out-of-hours service from NHS Lothian contributed to his death. Her ruling came after the patient's fiancee complained about the treatment the received.
The man, listed as Mr A, fell ill on April 26, 2004, complaining of severe stomach pain and vomiting. His fiancee called NHS Lothian's out-of-hours service, which was operating at the time, on three occasions that night. He was first spoken to by a doctor, who called a colleague out.
The visiting GP diagnosed gastroenteritis, gave Mr A an injection to ease the vomiting and advised him to call back again if the pain worsened. Early the next morning, the fiancee called an NHS Lothian receptionist after Mr A started experiencing worse pain, shallow breathing and a rapid pulse.
The receptionist who took the call referred the patient's notes on to a third GP with a note stating simply "friend calling, patient has intracable [sic] stomach pains", the Ombudsman report said.
The GP called without knowing about his worsening condition, and after asking several questions told the patient to take paracetamol and to call back if he did not improve.
Prof Brown said that the doctor simply relied on the symptoms described by Mr A, rather than identifying there had been a potentially deadly deterioration.
She upheld the complaint that the receptionist had not accurately or completely pass on all the relevant clinical information provided by Miss C, and that the final GP had failed to obtain relevant information.
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