Case ref: 202400404
NHS organisation: Tayside NHS Board
Subject: Management practice
Date: November 2024
Summary
C raised concerns with the Board that preferential treatment had been shown to a patient (Patient A) during discharge planning processes. C believed it unfair that other patients, who remained on the ward had not been offered the same opportunities as Patient A. C was concerned that decisions around discharge arrangements represented poor financial governance and a misuse of public money due to the costs involved.
The Board considered C’s concerns under Stage 2 of the National Whistleblowing Standards (the Standards). C was unhappy with the response and complained to INWO, stating that the Board’s response was inadequate and they remained concerned that a significant amount of public money had been spent on one patient and not made available to others.
We reviewed the information provided by C and the Board. We found that the discharge planning decision for Patient A had been made in accordance with the Board’s policies and internal controls and represented a patient centred approach that allowed for the discharge of Patient A.
We found it would be disproportionate and intrusive to investigate whether the remaining patients on the ward should have been given similar opportunities, as this would involve accessing a number of third-party patient health records. However, in relation to C’s concern about preferential treatment, we were satisfied that as the relevant policies had been adhered to and scrutinised through an approvals process, there could be no preferential treatment.
Our decision in this case was to not uphold the complaint.