Patient safety tsar backs call for review of ex-soldier’s death

Calls are continuing for a fresh investigation into the death of former UN peacekeeper Ryan Wallace.

Scotland’s Patient Safety Commissioner, Karen Titchener, backs politicians who say lessons should be learned from Ryan’s death as the case raises questions about how patients with complex and unexplained illnesses are supported.

The intervention comes amid growing criticism of NHS Forth Valley’s refusal to carry out a Significant Adverse Event Review ­following Ryan’s decision to end his life at a clinic in Switzerland on 18 August.

NHS Forth Valley insists concern raised by Ryan and his family were investigated through its complaints ­process and later upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

But his widow, Marianne Wallace, argues that investigation only examined events and concerns raised at that time.

She said: “Their investigation did not examine the years that followed when Ryan’s health continued to deteriorate, he was given a succession of different diagnoses and treatment plans, and we felt forced to spent more than £60,000 on private healthcare as we searched for answers.”

Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Miles Briggs last week called on the health board to commission an investigation voluntarily, despite there being no requirement to do so because Ryan died outside Scotland.

Titchener said: “I can’t comment on the details of his care, and it isn’t my role to investigate this individual case, but his story raises questions. The whole system should want to understand what happens when someone lives for years with unexplained symptoms, conflicting diagnoses, and complex medication, and feels they need to look elsewhere for answers.

“A complaint process tells us whether individual decisions were reasonable at the time. It doesn’t always tell us what we could learn from the whole journey. Learning shouldn’t stop because a complaint has been closed.”

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Source: The Sunday Post, 11 October 2026