A WOMAN died after botched hernia surgery at a private hospital led her to develop sepsis.
The case emerged after the widower of the patient, who has not been named, complained to a watchdog that an investigation into her death was not detailed enough.
The woman, known only as Ms A, underwent an operation privately to repair a hernia - an extremely painful condition caused when internal organs bulge through a muscle or tissue wall.
The report, by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), did not name the private hospital where the woman was treated but said she had suffered a perforated bowel during surgery.
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She was admitted to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where the damage was successfully repaired.
Despite this her condition deteriorated and she died shortly afterwards from complications related to sepsis.
Sepsis is triggered when the body 'over-reacts' to an infection and shuts down organs.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde carried out a Significant Clinical Incident (SCI) investigation which highlighted a number of failings in Ms A's NHS care.
However, the woman's partner said he was unhappy with the SCI investigation and its report, and complained to the SPSO.
The watchdog said it had taken independent advice from a consultant surgeon and concluded that while the SCI investigation "was reasonable", some of its recommendations "either did not address, or did not fully address, the failings".
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It added that in future, cases where patients are being transferred as an emergency from a private facility to an NHS hospital this "should be regarded as 'blue light', especially in the presence of sepsis".
It added: "All emergency cases should be assessed for sepsis on the Sepsis Six pathway and prompt management plans be put in place as necessary, including prompt administration of antibiotics."
A spokeswoman for NHS GGC said: "We recognise there were failings in the patient’s care and have written to the patient’s partner to apologise.
"A SCI review was undertaken by the Board after the patient’s death which identified a number of areas for improvement.
"The Ombudsman’s recommendations are being discussed by a multi-disciplinary team to identify how these can be quickly implemented and ensure that lessons learned in this case are shared with appropriate staff."
In a separate case, the SPSO also partially upheld a complaint from a mother who said she had been given general anaesthetic "the wrong way round" during a caesarean section at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow.
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The patient, known as Miss C, said the sequence in which her anaesthetic drugs had been administered "jeopardised her ability to breathe, risking both her and her baby's lives".
After consulting independent experts, the watchdog agreed that "the sequence of drug administration in Miss C's case was wrong and could have caused Miss C difficulty breathing".
However, it added that this "would have lasted for only a few seconds at most" and that "there was no risk to Miss C's baby".
The risk to Miss C "was limited to the unpleasant experience she suffered", said the SPSO.
The SPSO recommended that the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde should in future consider supplying pre-filled syringes of suxamethonium, a drug that induces temporary paralysis.
A spokeswoman for NHS GGC said: "We have received the Ombudsman’s report and his recommendations and we would like to extend our sincere apologies to this patient.
"We were pleased to note that the Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint about the patient’s overall care."
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