Health chiefs were ordered to pay for a patient's private surgery after refusing to operate on them - despite being in 'excruciating' pain.
Watchdogs found the patient had two emergency admissions to hospital after their gallbladder became inflamed - but was refused surgery and placed on a waiting list.
The patient, named as C in documents, said they were left in 'chronic and excruciating pain' with no follow-up appointments forthcoming from NHS Fife.
They said the surgery should have been carried out as an emergency but they ended up waiting an 'unreasonable' amount of time for the gallbladder op.
The patient was eventually forced to have the surgery privately - and filed a complaint with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).
An SPSO investigation found C should have been treated as a high priority due to the emergency admissions and should have been given an early appointment for surgery.
It found 'administrative errors' disrupted the process after the board failed to follow-up with C after the first admission and didn't prioritise them on the waiting list after the second.
The watchdog ordered the health board to apologise to the patient and reimburse them up to the value of the public cost of the surgery had it been done on the NHS.
But NHS Fife said it was reasonable to postpone surgery when C was admitted to hospital because their gallbladder had been inflamed.
The report said: "C complained about the length of time they waited for gallbladder surgery.
"They had two emergency admissions to hospital without surgery being carried out and had been placed on the waiting list for surgery after their second admission.
"C said that they were left in chronic and excruciating pain and considered the surgery should have been carried out on an emergency basis.
"They considered the length of time that they were waiting was unreasonable.
"As a result, C had the surgery carried out privately.
The board said that it was reasonable to postpone surgery each time C was admitted to hospital because their gallbladder had been inflamed.
"We took independent advice from a colorectal surgeon (a surgeon who specialises in conditions in the colon, rectum or anus).
"We found that C should have been regarded as a high priority case given their symptoms had led to two emergency admissions and, after each admission, they should have been offered an early appointment for surgery once the inflammation settled.
"Instead, due to an administrative error, an initial follow-up appointment was not offered after the first admission.
"After the second admission, C was added to the waiting list with no indication as to when their surgery would take place.
"We found that the board had failed to arrange C's gallbladder surgery within a reasonable timeframe and, therefore, we upheld C's complaint.
"We took into account that the cost of the private treatment was partly due to the board's failings and also partly due to a private decision by C.
"In the specific circumstances, we recommended that C be reimbursed to the extent which the surgery would have cost the board."
NHS Fife Director of Nursing, Janette Owens, said: "Our aim is always to provide patients in Fife with the best possible care and treatment, however, in this instance we recognise that we fell short of these standards.
"We accept the findings of the Ombudsman and have enacted their recommendations, including apologising formally to the individual involved.
"Measures have also been put in place to limit the opportunity for the issue being repeated in future, particularly in more complex cases such as this."
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