HEALTH chiefs have apologised after a mix-up led to the removal of a child’s tooth without the full understanding of the youngster’s parents.
Medics at the Royal Hospital for Children were found to have not “clearly explained” the need to take out a pearly white ahead of a procedure at the Glasgow hub.
The child had originally arrived for dental surgery to remove two different teeth but it was decided that another tooth had to be taken out instead.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon to impose vaccine certificates for nightclubs and live events
While this was explained to the young person’s parents at the time, a watchdog has ruled the “complex information” was not given in a way they could understand.
One of the child’s parents, known only as C, complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, which found in their favour.
In a report, the watchdog stated: “C complained that there was an error in carrying out their child (A)’s dental surgery at the Royal Hospital for Children.
“A had been referred by an orthodontist (medical professional dealing with the prevention and correction of irregular teeth) to have two teeth removed.
“C raised concerns that they had removed the wrong tooth (A’s front tooth) and left in the two teeth they were supposed to remove.
“The board said that their oral and maxillofacial surgery clinicians (OMFS, specialists in treating diseases and injuries of the mouth and face) had appropriately reviewed A’s original treatment plan.
“The board explained that their OMFS clinicians had tried to contact the orthodontist to explain that A’s original treatment plan was not clinically possible.
“We took independent advice from a consultant OMFS. We found that A’s treatment plan should not have been changed without consulting the referring orthodontist and agreeing the changes with them.
“We found that the clinical rationale for changing A’s treatment plan was not clearly recorded. We also found that the changes were not communicated clearly enough to C and A in a manner that they could understand. We upheld C’s complaint.”
A NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesperson said: “While we cannot comment on any individual patient, we are sorry for any distress caused to the patient and their family.
“The details of this incident have been subject of an internal, clinical review and we have already put in place measures to learn from this patient’s experience.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here