NHS Highland Investigation Into Pensioner Left On Ward
Health officials found Norma Faulkner was NOT left for 12 hours on the ward without food and water.
Reports a 78 year old woman was abandoned in a wheelchair at Raigmore Hospital are false, according to NHS Highland.
The health board launched an investigation into the case of Norma Faulkner.
It had been claimed she was left for 12 hours without food or water.
Officials say that was untrue, and she was home within 2 hours of leaving the hospital.
They are now looking for a meeting with her to hear concerns directly.
Elaine Mead, Chief Executive of NHS Highland, said: “While we acknowledge and appreciate that Mrs Faulkner was happy with the day to day care she received while a patient in Ward 7C we were concerned to hear about her experience when discharged from the ward and started an immediate investigation when the complaint was received.
“Following our initial investigations we can confirm that an ambulance had been booked to take Mrs Faulkner home on the morning of 30th July, with morning bookings pick up will always be before 1pm at the latest.
“We were relieved to find from our investigation that Mrs Faulkner did have opportunity for breakfast.
“However, we have found that our facts do not correlate with those in the letter of complaint. We are confident that she left the ward by 11.19 and was home for 13.19 when she was dropped off by the ambulance crew.
“We are keen to talk to Mrs Faulkner to understand how there can be such a discrepancy in our understanding of the situation and have offered to meet with her.”