Nursing staff at Ninewells Hospital A&E wrongly diagnosed a patient’s injury and failed to refer them to a hand surgeon, a watchdog has ruled.
The patient, referred to as C, went to the Dundee hospital after suffering an injury to the little finger of their right hand from a serrated knife.
Staff diagnosed and treated the patient for “mallet finger” – a deformity caused by a damaged tendon in the fingertip that prevents the digit from straightening.
They were treated with a splint applied to the injured finger.
But after this didn’t heal properly, patient C complained that no X-ray had been given, the splint was “too big” and advice on caring for the injury was “insufficient”.
NHS Tayside has since apologised and acted on recommendations issued by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).
‘Complaint upheld’
The complaint about the splint was upheld by the SPSO in a report detailing the incident.
On independent advice on emergency care, the watchdog also found that staff at the A&E should have referred patient C to a hand surgeon.
Patient C also complained they should have been given an appointment with a physiotherapist, but the SPSO concluded that this was the responsibility of their GP practice.
‘Apologised to the patient’
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “We have apologised to the patient and addressed all the recommendations in the report.”
This includes ensuring patient C’s feedback is used to ensure “any ill-fit of splints is explained fully in future as part of the aftercare advice.”
The decision report does not state when the incident and treatment occurred.
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