Jane was very concerned about her daughter’s health, she had continual fevers and was very pale, she also had lumps in her neck that were growing. She had her bloods taken on multiple occasions, and they were told she had an iron deficiency, a B12 deficiency and hormone issues. It was discovered that all the blood results were inconclusive. Antibiotics were given but nothing seemed to work.
In June 2023, her daughter collapsed, she was unable to walk and could not weight bare. 111 sent an ambulance to take her to North Tees Hospital, where they were told she had a ‘high infection’, but that it was not severe. They were later told that an ambulance was arriving to take her to the RVI in Newcastle, but they were not told why. At the RVI the patient was diagnosed with Leukeamia.
Jane felt that that many opportunities were missed during the 8 months she took her daughter to different health settings. Jane expressed her concerns that it may be Leukeamia, as she had a family member who had gone through it. Her concerns were ignored, and she was accused of having Munchhausen’s by-proxy. Jane needed to know why she not listened to by numerous health professionals and for the NHS to acknowledge that more could have been done to help her daughter. She also wanted some reassurance from the NHS organisations involved in her daughter’s treatment that things would change and that parents needed to be listened to, to avoid this happening again to another family.
Jane contacted People First to support her through the NHS complaints process. This involved drafting a letter of complaint for the customer to send to the Trust, liaising with the Trust throughout Local Resolution and assisting with a referral to the PHSO.
The NHS investigated the complaint and agreed to present the case in a Paediatric learning event that was organised specifically to share feedback from parents regarding the importance of acknowledging and addressing parental concern.
Feedback was also shared with the Orthopaedic Team in the Trust regarding the direct referral pathway for an Acute Paediatric referral and highlight how the Practitioners can refer directly to the Acute Paediatric Consultant on call.
Feedback was also shared with the GP Surgery regarding the quality and content of a referral to ensure when this is reviewed by consultants, so that they are aware of the full history and results and are able to make an appropriate decision regarding appointment timescales.
The PHSO acknowledged that Jane felt that the care provided to the family fell below medically acceptable standards and stated that it was therefore likely that they had a legal remedy open to them of clinical negligence. Jane found a solicitor to take on the case and pursue legal action against the NHS.
Jane felt unable to proceed with the complaint without advocacy support, having an independent advocate’s support throughout the process enabled her to have the strength to continue with the complaint, which was a very lengthy process. She felt that without an advocate she may have given up and not know where to turn to for help.
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