An assault victim was refused reconstructive facial surgery after a historic psychiatric report recommended against the treatment.
The patient, who is not named, successfully complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman about NHS Ayrshire and Arran's treatment.
They had a history of ‘multiple facial trauma’ and had undergone surgery over the last ten years to treat the damage, according to the investigation report.
The Ombudsman was told that in this case the patient had been assaulted and had injured their nose.
The complaint claimed that the health service had refused to investigate or carry out reconstructive surgery, despite a number of referrals by doctors.
The patient also hit out at a decision not to provide further treatment as the result of a historic psychological assessment that had suggested it would be damaging to the patient.
The patient ‘strongly objected’ to this assessment.
The ombudsman came to the conclusion that, while it was reasonable to take a psychiatric assessment into account, the length of time since the assessment was produced, together with the new injury, meant they should have been reassessed.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran was told to apologise to the complainer and ensure that the failures are not repeated in the future.
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