'Poor care' at hospital trusts

The three instances of poor care were among 161 examined by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman carried out between April and June this year.

It found doctors at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust missed the opportunity of providing better care for a patient, known as Mrs M.

As a result of ulcerative colitis, Mrs M had her large intestine removed by surgeons and she was initially stable but over the next few days her condition deteriorated.

She was given antibiotics five days after the operation and then returned to theatre for a second operation.

Mrs M continued to be unwell and was moved back to high dependency where she subsequently died.

The ombudsman found, on one occasion, there were no observations for four hours and doctors took little action to investigate the cause of her infection.

Staff also failed to recognise the seriousness of her condition and a widespread fungal infection was not diagnosed or treated.

The North Tees and Hartlepool Trust apologised to the complainant, Mrs A (Mrs M’s daughter) and paid her £1,000 for her distress. It also drew up an action plan to address failings.

The ombudsman also investigated County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust after a Mrs N complained that nurses did not care for her mother properly.

She said her mother was not encouraged to eat and drink properly and lost weight and was also not kept comfortable in bed. On one occasion she found her mother in her own excrement and staff seemed too busy to speak to her.

The trust apologised to Mrs N and said it had spoken to staff about the issues raised and had recruited more nurses.

The trust has started a campaign to improve how nurses look after patients’ food and drink needs.

In the case of a woman known as Miss K, whose teeth were damaged because her County Durham dentist failed to take regular x-rays, the practice apologised to Miss K and paid her £3,000.