HEALTH chiefs in the Borders have been ordered to apologise to a widow after doctors failed to diagnose her late husband's stroke.

The woman, who has not been named by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, made an official complaint regarding the care and treatment her husband received in the weeks leading up to his death.

Following an investigation it has been discovered that doctors at Borders General Hospital failed to recognise the man had had a stroke after being admitted to the wards with pneumonia.

It was only after he had been discharged that a later CT scan confirmed the stroke.

And by the time he had been readmitted to the BGH his condition had deteriorated.

He died several weeks later.

The man's widow also complained that her late husband didn't receive the required six-monthly monitoring of a replacement heart valve.

And she also raised issues health professionals ignored concerns raised by her and her family in the weeks and months before her husband's death.

A spokesman for the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) said: "We found that there had been a lack of continuity during his first admission, which contributed to the fact that the significance of the deterioration in his cognitive function and incontinence was missed, despite the family highlighting this.

"Whilst much of the communication with his family had been reasonable, there was a failure to listen to the family’s concerns at that time.

"We also found that it was unreasonable that a CT scan was not carried out during this admission, although we could not say whether or not this would have diagnosed his stroke.

"We found that the board had failed to reasonably monitor his replacement heart valve on a six-monthly basis, as previously agreed.

"We considered that it was unreasonable to plan to follow up a patient with a serious chronic condition, but fail to do so, without any clear explanation."

A further complaint about the nursing care her husband received during his time at Borders General Hospital was also upheld by the watchdog body.

The spokesman added: "In relation to the nursing care, we found that there had been a failure to meet some of his basic personal care needs and to assess and manage his ongoing continence problems.

"Nursing staff also failed to review his cognitive impairment on an ongoing basis and to involve his family in the planning and review of his care.

"We also found that there was a failure to adequately document his care needs and how they were met on an ongoing basis."

As well as being ordered to apologise, NHS Borders has been given a list of required improvements in light of their failings.

All patients who are now admitted to hospital with cognitive impairment should receive CT scanning in line with the Scottish Stroke Care Standards, and there should now be ongoing structured assessment, management and review of all patients with cognitive impairment.

The care needs of patients in relation to continence assessment and management in hospital should be appropriately met, and the families of patients should be involved when professionals are reviewing cases.

NHS Borders was further instructed to abide by any agreed follow-up care with patients who have a serious chronic condition.

A spokeswoman for NHS Borders told us: "The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman findings highlighted that some aspects of care that the man received were unacceptable.

"We have accepted the recommendations identified in full and have started to make the changes required so that similar experiences are avoided in the future.

"We are very sorry for the additional upset that our failings have caused the man's wife and her family at an already difficult time and have offered a full apology.”

NHS Borders have been instructed to supply the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations.