A health board has been told to improve its procedures for keeping clinical records after a failure to check a patient's medical history was cited as a major factor in his death.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) said the man's life might have been saved had consultants at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow known the extent of his history of bronchiolitis obliterans organising pneumonia, or Boop, a rare inflammatory lung disease that causes the small airways in the lungs to become swollen.

The patient, known as Mr A, had previously been successfully treated with a strong course of a corticosteroid called Prednisolone in January 1996.

But the previous successful diagnosis and treatment was not considered when he was admitted to hospital again in October 2006, with a swollen left hand and right-sided pneumonia.

The patient's death on December 22 2006 was Boop-related. He also suffered hypoxic respiratory failure. The Ombudsman agreed that the hospital's failure to refer to the previous successful treatment may have cost the patient his life.

The dead man's son, who lodged a complaint about the treatment with the Ombudsman, said that past clinical records had not been available to the consultants caring for his father and, despite his family raising concerns about a recurrence of Boop, these were not acted upon.

The son had believed that Mr A's symptoms were very similar to those of 1995 and that his prognosis may have been better had his consultants been able to refer to the past medical history. The Ombudsman and medical advisers agreed.

A critical ombudsman report says Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board had failed to take adequate note of the patient's past medical history when treating him, failed to proactively seek information relating to his past medical history and "inappropriately" reduced his steroid dosages before the full extent of his illness was known.

The board has been told to review its record-keeping practices and to introduce procedures to ensure the prompt identification, sourcing and provision of historical clinical records.

A reminder of the importance of sourcing and reviewing historical clinical records is expected to be distributed to staff.

The hospital clinical team are expected to be asked to review the circumstances of the case to see if any lessons can be learned regarding the diagnosis and treatment of organising pneumonia.

The board has also been told to formally apologise to the patient's family.

The report says that Mr A's admission to the hospital on October 10 was accompanied by a referral letter from his GP that made no mention of him having been diagnosed with Boop in 1995.

A note in clinical records for October 20, made by a respiratory specialist who examined Mr A, acknowledged there was a history of Boop but stated that Mr A's old clinical records were not available.

He subsequently required a further acute admission to the hospital on December 18 and was transferred to the intensive care unit where he died on December 22 2006.

Mr A's family believed that, had Mr A's clinical records from 1995 been sourced immediately upon his admission to the hospital, Boop would have been pursued as a possible cause of his symptoms earlier.

Furthermore, they suggested that the clinical records would have highlighted Mr A's symptoms and treatment at that time, highlighting similarities to his then-current symptoms, lack of reaction to antibiotics and details of the successful steroid treatment provided in 1995.

The ombudsman said: "Had his historical records been available to clinical staff in 2006, Mr A's positive reaction to an alternative Prednisolone regime would have been evident and his prognosis may have been improved."

The board told the ombudsman that it accepted the recommendations and would act upon them accordingly.

A rare condition