A mother who spent £31,000 on life-saving treatment for her daughter while NHS bodies argued over funding is to get her money back.
Most of the article from the BEEB is below.
The daughter, who lived in south Wales, developed depression and anorexia while staying with a friend in Devon.
Ombudsmen found maladministration and service failure by NHS bodies in Wales and England against the unnamed women.
They criticised Health Commission Wales (HCW), Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, and Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust.
The report, issued jointly by the public services ombudsman for Wales and health service ombudsman for England, report said the dispute caused the women "unremedied injustice and hardship".
The daughter, known as Miss S fell ill she came under the care of Plymouth TPCT.
She was initially an out-patient and then, from October 2006, an in-patient, the ombudsmen heard.
Plymouth TPCT then approached a consultant psychiatrist in Miss S's home area in south Wales to ask him to take over her care, but he declined.
As her condition deteriorated further, she was referred to the local specialist NHS eating disorders unit.
The referral was accepted, subject to funding, and an application for this was made to Health Commission Wales (HCW).
However HCW refused to fund the admission because Miss S had never been assessed by the services in Wales, and no follow-up plan had been put in place for when she was discharged.
At this stage the patient's mother, Mrs S, decided to pay to have Miss S admitted to a private eating disorders centre.
She complained to the ombudsmen that the NHS should have funded Miss S's care.
She added that it was out of the question for Miss S to have travelled to Wales for assessment, given her poor condition.
The ombudsmen recommended that HCW reimburse the money paid for Miss S's care, with interest, and that all three bodies pay the women £250 each to recognise the distress they had been caused.
The ombudsmen also made a number of procedural recommendations which were addressed to HCW.
Their investigation also identified concerns about the adequacy of provision for patients with eating disorders in the Cardiff and Vale area, and in Wales in general.
The ombudsmen recommended that the trust carry out an urgent review of the provision for eating disorder patients in its area.
It was also recommended that the Welsh Assembly Government consider a Wales-wide review of the adequacy of such provision, both from an out-patient and in-patient point of view.
HCW, the Trust, the PCT and the assembly government agreed to accept the ombudsmen's recommendations.
An assembly government spokesman said the health minister would formally launch a new framework for the provision of care for people with eating disorders on Friday.
The spokesman said £500,000 would be made available this year for the recruitment of additional staff and extra training, followed by a further £1m each year to sustain and develop services.
Yet another case of the left hand ignoring what the right hand is saying, and yet another case of “not my responsibility”.
“Lord” Darzi is still spouting BS about how much better the NHS is under his stewardship, and patients are still suffering, maybe it is time for his Lordship to actually get off his arse and do something about the failures arising from the over targeted, over regulated, under staffed and under performing trusts.
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
Angus Dei politico
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