DOCTORS have been accused of "serious failings" after a misdiagnosis of a pensioner's lung condition was found to have compounded his family's grief.

The new health watchdog concluded that failures by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust meant the man in his 70s did not receive the proper care before his death.

Doctors incorrectly diagnosed a pulmonary fibrosis - scarring on the lungs - rather than pulmonary embolism - a blood clot on the lungs, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found.

After the death of the patient, known as Mr P, a complaint was made to the NHS trust by his daughter-in-law.

She said the diagnosis was unclear, his treatment was inadequate and communication from trust staff was poor.

However, the trust acknowledged only minor communication failings and maintained that Mr P’s care and treatment was appropriate.

The case was then referred to the PHSO.

In its report published today (Wednesday, August 19) the watchdog concluded that the trust had made "serious failings" in Mr P's care.

Although it was felt different treatment would not have altered the outcome, the report said the "substandard" treatment meant his family were not adequately supported during his illness and lost confidence in his care.

It added: "There were shortcomings in how the trust started a palliative care pathway for Mr P.

"This meant that Mr P and his family did not have the opportunity to come to terms with his condition and prepare for his death in the way he would have wanted. This compounded their grief."

The watchdog found that the misdiagnosis was made in summer 2013 despite Mr P having correctly being diagnosed with suffering from a pulmonary embolism in the spring of that year.

An expert asked to review the patient's scans by the PHSO concluded that a pulmonary embolism was clearly visible.

The PHSO report added: "The diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis was not only wrong, it also discouraged doctors from seeking other explanations for his ongoing and deteriorating symptoms.

"This was a serious failing in Mr P’s medical care. From this time until Mr P’s death, there was no evidence that his pulmonary embolism, a blood clot on his lungs that persisted despite anticoagulation treatment, was adequately investigated, correctly diagnosed or properly managed. These were serious shortcomings by the trust."

It is believed the case occurred at the Darlington Memorial Hospital, although the PHSO report did not identify the hospital involved.

As a result of the PHSO investigation, the trust agreed to apologise to the complainant for the failings and pay her £1,750 compensation.

It also agreed to explain what it had done, or planned to do, to address its shortcomings.

A spokesman for the trust said last night: “While it would not be appropriate for us to comment in detail, this was a very sad case and we did identify areas where we had let the patient and their family down with our delivery of care, and for this we have apologised directly.

"We have had meetings with the patient’s family to talk through and address their concerns and based on these discussions we carried out a thorough investigation.

"This highlighted areas for learning and action plans were put in place which included making changes to our education programme which have been carried out to ensure improvements have been made.”

The case was one of 121 complaints highlighted by the PHSO today which were investigated between December 2014 and January 2015 about the NHS, and government departments and their agencies.

The PHSO makes final decisions on complaints which have not been resolved locally.