Medical negligence

[Ally18]

Can someone please advise what steps I should take in the first instance,

My mother died, Due to serious medical negligence at a NHS England hospital 4 months ago.
This is not about money. I do not want it happening to someone else. I just want this investigated and not covered up. I want the facts exposed.

Appreciate advice on what i need to do to start an investigation at a high level.

Thanks

[stevemLS]

Re: Medical negligence

You need to ask the hospital to undertake a Serious Incident (SI) review, via making a formal complaint.

It will take months.

What negligence do you say took place? What is the cause of death on the death certificate?

[leclerc]

Re: Medical negligence

Can someone please advise what steps I should take in the first instance,

My mother died, Due to serious medical negligence at a NHS England hospital 4 months ago.
This is not about money. I do not want it happening to someone else. I just want this investigated and not covered up. I want the facts exposed.

Appreciate advice on what i need to do to start an investigation at a high level.

Thanks

Ally, If something happened at an NHS Hospital, it is my experience that unless it is already within the medical notes and/or a Internal review has already taken place, that the hospital will cover each other's back.

I do think that you should send out a formal letter of complaint listing the chronology and even perhaps suggesting meeting with the relevant hospital to air your views but unless there is any documented evidence then the hospital is unlikely to do much else. A meeting might help you in the process of grieving and at least give you peace of mind that you did something about this.

My condolences to you.

[Ally18]

Re: Medical negligence

Ally, If something happened at an NHS Hospital, it is my experience that unless it is already within the medical notes and/or a Internal review has already taken place, that the hospital will cover each other's back.

I do think that you should send out a formal letter of complaint listing the chronology and even perhaps suggesting meeting with the relevant hospital to air your views but unless there is any documented evidence then the hospital is unlikely to do much else. A meeting might help you in the process of grieving and at least give you peace of mind that you did something about this.

My condolences to you.

Thanks for your kind thoughts, and neither is it to do with a grieving process. There was a catalogue of events which no one should have to go through again such as:

Going to A&E, the week before and being sent home with a packet of IBS relief.
Going back to A&E still in pain 5 days later then being admitted
Failing to undertake a CT scan which was requested by the consultant until it was too late. Only when they realised this was now critical, they rushed her to CT
Failing to administer her correct medication, because they didnt have that item but gave her something else instead - even though I told them I had her medicaion with me. They were too busy on training on a new system using an ipad. I can elaborate more about this and what I witnessed.
Failing to administer her blood clotting medication. She died of a clot related condition
Failing to relieve her pain. She called me 3am in the morning to tell me she was in so much pain and they were not doing anything. Her words to me "they are not helping me here".
Misdiagnosis of her condition - even though she told the junior doctor about her pain and location. ie: they rang me 6am in the morning to tell me she was critical and said they believe she had a perforated ulcer. She died of a bowel realated condition........
and I can go on

Having then being told by a surgeon who was asked to review her, that she was now too weak to undergo any surgery and she only had hours ( she was fit enough to get up in the morning, dress, make her breakfast and walk to the car to go to hospital - in 48 hours she was dead) Followed by her consultant telling me "I can understand your frustration". Followed by the nurse apologising when he left for "inappropriate use of words"

Then receiving an automated text asking me to score the hospital on their service and reason for my reply, whilst I was sitting by my mothers bedside watching her die.

This is why I feel this matter should not be swept under the carpet. No one else should be put through this.

I do not think it is appropriate to just arrange a meeting and listen to their excuses. It needs to be reviewed by an independant panel.

How can I obtain copies of her medical records ?

[stevemLS]

Re: Medical negligence

If you are her Executor/Administrator you submit a written request under the Access to Health Records Act 1990.

You can also apply under the same legislation if you believe you have a claim arising from the death.

You need to find out whether it has been treated as an SI and an investigation done.

[Ally18]

Re: Medical negligence

If you are her Executor/Administrator you submit a written request under the Access to Health Records Act 1990.

You can also apply under the same legislation if you believe you have a claim arising from the death.

You need to find out whether it has been treated as an SI and an investigation done.

Thank you.

You mention about needing to find out whether it has been treated as an SI. How would I do that ? Do I just ask quoting the above act ?

If it was - should they have told me ? Also if it was - what difference does it make.

Sorry for all the questions. i just want to make sure I doing things correctly and following due process.

Once again thank you for the information

[enaid]

Re: Medical negligence

Hi Ally,
Sorry for your loss and situation.
I do hope you succeed in getting the result you want from this, I know it's not about the money, you just need to have answers and hopefully an admittance that errors and neglect took place. Myself and my sister went as far as the hospital complaints system re care of my dad when being admitted and discharged, absolutely heartbreaking on occasion to say the least. This also from what is supposedly one of our 'best' hospitals. When I think back it was patronising and us just being told what they thought we wanted and needed to hear.

Some advice on here http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rig...eroptions.aspx

I wish you all the very best with this and can understand exactly where you are coming from, please keep us updated.
Enaid x

[Guest]

Re: Medical negligence

I have personal experience of how the NHS covers up it's errors.

I'll try to give you some positive help here:
1 - As far as I remember, you have one year to bring a complaint but the complaint can be added to as you find out more. You will eventually have the option to go to the Health Service Ombudsman.
2 - Discuss with Patient Liaison Service (PALS). Look under NHS Choices, you can find out your nearest by putting in a post code.
3 - There is another organisation - seap.org.uk. Their service is free, part of the NHS I think. Anyway they will help you with a complaint; will if you want appoint an advocate to come with you to any meetings, will speak on your behalf if it helps you.
4 - Contact AVMA - Action for victims of medical negligence - a charity, easily found on the internet.
5 - Possibly healthwatch, they are comparatively new, I don't think they get involved in individual cases but their purpose is to investigate and check on healthcare tendencies in various areas.

Please be aware - and I'm not being negative, I speak from personal experience.
NHS doctors and medical staff will do anything and everything to hide what they have done, even to the extent of constructing phony med records.
You will have a battle but if you're strong enough, go for it, you have nothing to lose.
Do phone AVMA - not easy to get through because they have one helpline that is staffed by volunteers - usually a med neg solicitor.

As I said, you must be prepared for a battle but DO ASK QUESTIONS, You will start to acquire information. Keep a chronological written record of everything that is said. Sometimes doctors will slip you little bits of information without actually admitting what you are complaining about*
When I say "ask questions", you can even try on the internet - if you know the status of a doctor and his field of specialty, for example, research other doctors who work in the same field. You can simply ask "If a doctor didn't have the patient's correct prescribed medication, would it be acceptable for them to use an alternative?" or "If a hospital didn't have the patient's correct medication, in your opinion, should they have asked the relatives to get it?" This kind of thing. You will learn as you go along, but you must write everything down - a computer diary is best, just brief notes in date order will help you acquire knowledge.

Anything to do with medical negligence, in particular with the NHS, medical staff will be devious and conceal the truth. AVMA - an independent charity - may be more helpful.

If you ever find yourself in a position of instructing solicitors, you may want to go to a firm not in your town, and always use specialists in medical negligence.

*A hospital misdiagnosed my broken back and neck as whiplash and I got a different kind of injury when I was sent for physiotherapy treatment for the misdiagnosed whiplash. Two or three years down the line, I asked my consultant "did something happen to me in physiotherapy" and he replied "the injury is that your spinal cord was bruised". What I got out of this was the knowledge that in order for my spinal cord to have been bruised during physiotherapy, there must have been displaced bones in my spine. From there, a short step to finding out about my fractured vertebrae.
(This comment was just included to show you that some detective work can produce more information than you'll get from any doctor who wants to cover up what he or a colleague may have done)

Anyway I hope I have been able to give you some ideas of where to go to try to get help. Medical negligence is a total nightmare. I wish you well.