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Case ref:201501199
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Date:October 2015
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Body:Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board - Acute Services Division
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Not upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:clinical treatment / diagnosis
Summary
Mrs C had a hysterectomy (surgery to remove the womb) for a fibroid uterus at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. She said she then suffered an infection, was in severe pain, and had bladder problems. Mrs C was discharged home and later visited her GP who gave antibiotics for a urine infection. The following month, Mrs C attended a follow-up appointment at the hospital and was diagnosed with a vesico-vaginal fistula (an abnormal opening connecting the vagina to the urinary tract). She had to have further surgery to repair it. She was dissatisfied with her treatment and that a fistula had occurred, which had a very detrimental effect on many aspects of her life. Mrs C complained that the fact that she had suffered a vesico-vaginal fistula should have been discovered while she was an in-patient, and she should not have been discharged given her condition.
We took independent advice from a medical adviser. We found that the post-operative care and treatment provided was reasonable, as was the decision to discharge Mrs C, and that it was also reasonable to assume that the fistula developed as a later complication.