NHS Grampian has been forced to apologise after a woman complained of a “lack of empathy” from hospital staff after suffering a miscarriage.
Known only as Mrs C, she filed a complaint with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman about the way she was treated at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.
The ombudsman found there had been “confusion” relating to the forms which she had filled out, and had understood she would not be contacted again unless required.
Yet several days later she was asked to return to the ward and complete more paperwork.
At the time, Mrs C had requested that the cremated remains would be scattered without her being present.
Several months later she received a phone call asking her to collect the ashes.
The ombudsman ruled that: “The board’s correspondence with Mrs C had been poor, and that their apology in their response to her complaint had fallen short of a reasonable standard.
“We found that, although the board had apologised for some of the failings in Mrs C’s care, they had failed to address all of the questions she had raised with them.”
It did note that NHS Grampian has changed its processes and policies following the incident, but recommended that the health board re-issues a fuller apology to the woman.
A spokeswoman from NHS Grampian said: ”We accept the ombudsman’s ruling in this case and would take this opportunity to apologise once again to Mrs C.”