A COMPLAINT that a terminally-ill man lost almost a month’s benefit before his death through the fault of a nurse has not been upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).

However, Fife NHS board was ordered to award the man’s wife 50 per cent of the benefit she and her late husband lost out on.

In a report published by the SPSO it was outlined that the man, referred to as Mr C, was visited by a nurse who provided him with palliative care.

During a discussion with him, the nurse said that she would make a referral to another agency who would take his benefit claim forward.

A delay of several weeks before the claim was processed meant that Mr C lost around a month’s benefit and Mrs C believed that the reason for the delay was the fault of the nurse who, she claimed, delayed in making the referral.

The nurse gave a statement saying she contacted the agency a week after discussing the matter with Mr and Mrs C but the agency that dealt with the claim said that they did not receive the referral until a month after the discussion and therefore awarded benefit only from the day they received the referral from the nurse.

The SPSO’s report stated that the evidence was “conflicting” and therefore did not uphold the complaint. However, it recognised that Mr C lost more than three weeks’ benefit because of the delay through no fault of his own, something which had caused him “some distress” before his death.

As a result of not being able to prove which organisation was responsible for the delay and as the agency did not fall within its jurisdiction, the SPSO recommended to Fife NHS Board that Mrs C be awarded 50 per cent of the benefit that was lost and that they provide the ombudsman with an update on the action they were taking to prevent this problem recurring.