Tragic care home patient at centre of 'medicine protocol breach'

The East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership has been told to apologise to a relative of a tragic care home resident.A complaint was raised against the partnership which centred around their handling of an investigation into a potential ‘medicine protocol breach’ in the week before the care home resident’s death.The care home resident is only referred to as ‘A’ and their relative, who brought the complaint is referred to as ‘C,’ in order to protect both parties’ identities.The details of the case are contained within a report from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) who upheld a complaint against the HSCP.The report states: “C complained about the health and social care partnership’s (HSCP) investigation of a medicine protocol breach identified at their relative’s (A) care home in the week before A’s death.

A social worker investigated the breach in response to an Adult Support and Protection (ASP) notice raised by the care home, and determined that no further action was required.“Separately, the Care Inspectorate had investigated other concerns raised by C about the care and treatment provided to A, including the medicine protocol breach.

The Care Inspectorate’s investigation identified failings and made recommendations for improvement.“In light of this, C contested the partnership’s position, indicating their view that the investigation was faulty, particularly noting the outcome of the Care Inspectorate’s investigation of the same matter.”The report goes on to state that the complainer received a stage two complaint response letter from the partnership.

However, according to the SPSO, they considered the response had “not fully considered” the complainer’s concerns, therefore, they asked the