NHS FIFE has apologised to a family after being accused of showing a “lack of urgency” and failing to identify the severity of a patient’s condition.

The Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) upheld a complaint after the woman, known only as Mrs A, collapsed and died in a Fife A&E department.

Her father, known as Mr C, complained to ombudsman Jim Martin about the delay in diagnosing the cause of her symptoms after collapsing at home on several occasions.

Mr Martin upheld the complaint and asked the health authority to apologise to Mrs A’s family.

The situation unfolded when Mrs A experienced several episodes of breathlessness and after being seen by her GP it was concluded she had a virus.

Over the following days, she remained breathless and her GP was called out after she collapsed at home.

He found her blood pressure was low, but rising, and said she had suffered a vasovagal episode – a temporary loss of blood to the brain – and was improving.

But she had further collapses over the following days and was eventually taken by ambulance to hospital.

Shortly after arriving, she collapsed and died.

Mrs A was found to have had a pulmonary embolism – a blockage in the artery which takes blood to the lungs.

Her father complained there was a lack of urgency from A&E staff in diagnosing her symptoms and also that she had been left alone in a cubicle and he and his wife were not allowed to sit with her.

After taking independent advice from a medical adviser, the ombudsman upheld the complaints.

Mrs A was seen by a nurse immediately on arrival at the hospital, asked to use the toilet and was allowed to do so. This delayed the triage by around 30 minutes.

She was prioritised as urgent which meant she would be seen by a doctor within an hour.

The adviser said that Mrs A’s symptoms were “sufficiently abnormal” to merit being prioritised as very urgent which would have resulted in a doctor seeing her within 10 minutes.

She collapsed 20 minutes after triage.

Mr Martin said, “We were satisfied that Mrs A was treated appropriately following her collapse but we criticised the board for failing to identify the seriousness of her condition.” The ombudsman recommended the board apologise to the family and asked them to share the decision with staff carrying out triage in A&E.

NHS Fife associate medical director, Dr Gordon Birnie, said, “We would like to offer our most sincere condolences to Mr C and his family.

“The health board takes complaints of this nature very seriously. Any necessary measures will be put in place.

“In relation to wider comments, whilst NHS Fife wholeheartedly believes that every case that is brought to the attention of the ombudsman must be thoroughly investigated and its results reflected upon, it is important to note that this health board continues to attract a relatively small number of complaints.

“Indeed, the inaugural SPSO complaints report highlighted that NHS Fife accounted for only 2.5 per cent of received complaints – despite serving 6.7 per cent of the Scottish population.

“Ultimately, NHS Fife takes SPSO complaints very seriously and all of the lessons learned allow us to further improve quality across services and reduce harm.”