NHS squabbling delays disabled woman's equipment
December 13, 2007
A payment dispute between organisations within the NHS delayed treatment for a seriously disabled Cardiff woman by three years, a watchdog has found.
The potentially negligent behaviour was perpetrated by the Vale of Glamorgan Local Health Board (LHB), the Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust and the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, according to health ombudsman Adam Peat.
As a result of the medical negligence, he has ordered £2,000 to be paid to the family of 28-year-old Sarah Dadd, who suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
Sarah was denied a specialist bed and chair designed to alleviate her symptoms due to payment disputes between the three health organisations, which were ongoing between 2003 and 2006.
Mr Peat said that ultimate responsibility lay with the LHB - and that the squabbling should have been settled much more quickly.
On finally being granted the equipment, her mother Linda told the BBC: "It means that Sarah can sleep well and we can in turn which means we can look after her better."
Delivering his verdict, Mr Peat said: "It is wholly unacceptable that this equipment was not provided at the time that the need was identified simply because the three NHS bodies involved could not agree which of them should pay the costs."