A SUICIDAL man was wrongfully discharged from hospital and told he would not be readmitted for treatment in the lead up to taking his own life.

NHS Forth Valley has been ordered to apologise to the late man's daughter after she complained to a watchdog about her father's treatment.

In a recently published judgement, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) found worrying failures with the way the man was treated by the health board.

Identities have been protected in the ruling, with the man identified only as Mr A and his daughter as Ms C.

The judgement said Mr A was initially admitted to Forth Valley Royal Hospital after experiencing suicidal thoughts.

He was discharged the following day, but the SPSO found "no evidence" he was properly assessed before the decision was made to release him from hospital.

It subsequently upheld Ms C's complaint her father was "discharged unreasonably".

The very same day he was discharged, Mr A returned to Forth Valley Royal Hospital and asked if he could be readmitted for treatment.

However, this request was denied by nursing staff, who "did not consult a doctor and carry out an assessment when Mr A returned to the hospital".

He subsequently ended up taking his own life, and Ms C's complaint that denying him readmission to hospital was an unreasonable decision was upheld by the SPSO.

During its investigation, the watchdog also uncovered significant problems with Mr A's medical records.

Its ruling said: "We found that there were failings in relation to describing the assessment of risk, the clinical rationale for the management of Mr A, discharge planning, changes in his mental state and information available from his family."

For those reasons, Ms C's complaint that her father's medical records were inadequate was upheld.

And NHS Forth Valley admitted to the SPSO there were delays in completing a significant adverse event review after Mr A tragically took his own life.

These reviews are undertaken after events that have resulted in unexpected death or harm.

The ombudsman ordered the health board to apologise for the delay, and acknowledged apologies had already been made to Mr A's family for "most of the failings".

A spokesperson for NHS Forth Valley told the Advertiser: "We fully accept the ombudsman findings and have taken a number of actions to help prevent similar failings from occurring in the future.

"We have also written to the family to offer a further apology for the delay in completing the review into the care and treatment provided."

To read the ombudsman's judgement, visit tinyurl.com/y63dod6f.