To put in a complaint against NHS

[Vanillaisboring666]

My beautiful 14 year old dd attended hospital Tuesday last week to have her ACE stoma reversed . It was a simple 20 min procedure that was class's as day case surgery. We arrived at 8am and she went down to theatre at 12pm , arrived back onward at 1pm . At 230 pm she was discharged . She was un comfortable but managed to walk to car . Upon getting in car began to cry saying she was in a bit of pain . I got her home and into bed and gave paracetomol as per hospital instruction. At 4pm she was in agony and sweating. Took her to A&E as day case unit advised on phone they would be closing at 8pm . Anyways 2 hrs in a&e she was sweating , breathing fast and writhing in agony. After 2 hrs a paed doc came and gave oromorph and placed her on paediatric ward. She stayed overnight and was given regular oromorph but she was still In agony . The sister the next morning said it was post op pain and told me to take her home amd have a duvet day and give paracetomol. By this point she could not walk and looked gravely I'll with sweat running down her face. I took her home and once again tucked her up in bed. At 4pm wednesday (day after her stoma reversal ) she was in absolute agony so I called gp and he prescribed oromorp and we gave it her overnight. Thursday mornine she was unable to lift her head and gp advised over the phone i ring an ambulance . Ambulance arrived (after 1.5hrs) and she was once again took to a&e . A gastronsurgeon came immediately and she was then rushed to theatre . I was signing consent forms running along corridor. It was terrifying. Anyways she ended up having a full blown laparotomy after the attempt at doing surgery laparoscopically failed. She has 4 laparoscopically incisions and a huge vertical cut down her tummy from laparotomy and also a cut on right side of tummy from her ace reversal surgery and initial ace surgery. She has been through hell. She was on itu for two days and is now on ward but is still critically ill as having temps and heart rate fast. The surgeon who did the ace reversal was never informed dd was readmitted by the ward and has profusely apologised as he said this should never have happened. He is going to be looking into why he was not told dd was back in hospital with pain 4 hrs after his surgery and why the bloody hell she was discharged in such a terrible state the next day when she was very obviously seriously ill. She is so so so poorly now and is still critically ill amd at risk of sepsis . She will be getting ct scan tomorrow as nothing is bringing down her temps . I am furious she was made to suffer such pain for 48 hrs and has ended up needing full blown laparotomy. If her surgeon had of been informed on the Tuesday he said he could have managed to do surgery laparoscopically. Instead he said her abdomen was so full of puss and poo he had to open her tummy from top to bottom. I am heart broken and not coping well with seeing how much pain she is in. I am strong in front of dd but have to go to toilet amd cry every now and then. We have a huge long road ahead to get her better but I am now starting to realise just how appallingly she has been treat by the ward who initially discharged her. No doctor even examined her before discharge and the sister said it was post op pain amd to have a duvet day and paracetomol ? I can tell the hospital is shitting themselves as they rolling over me and dh now . Even my dds consultant has admitted this should not have happened amd has apologised . He came to see dd twice a day Saturday Sunday despite it being his day off. I pray to god she recovers as docs say she is still critical and may need more surgery amd to go back to picu if her temps don't drop. Sorry it's so long and I hope it makes sense. I'm in bits and can't believe our wonderful nhs could have gotten something so wrong. A routine simple procedure has ended up with 8 hrs of surgery ,paed intensive care for two days,severely in pain child that is bed bound ,catheterised and has no clue just how serious this situation is. Her whole abdomen was filled with puss and poo and her bowel had ruptured . According to ward sister though it was post op pain and all she needed was paracetomol and a duvet day. My dd is so lovely and never complains so I knew something bad was wrong but the sister said she knew best and discharged her ??? AIBU in going to pals ????

I'm not sure this is true. Surgeon who performed original surgery (if this had been done properly none of the events that followed would have happened)

All surgery carries risks and the lower part of a bowel may take some time to readjust to working efficiently again after not being used for 9 years.

Op - this is a complete shock for you and your dd and not at all what you expected. It's ok to cry. It's ok to cry in front of your dd. It's not weak. It's strong to talk about all emotions involved with the difficult time you are both experiencing at the moment. It won't be like this forever.

I worked in the NHS for 15 yrs before leaving it. There were people I came across who were incompetent and dangerous and shouldn't be working in their jobs.

Please complain. You will be listened to. Don't feel guilty. Your daughter almost died.

Even if the ward sister was told to discharge, surely she should have seen that it was the wrong decision. Jeez. Does no one challenge decisions anymore? Everyone can make a mistake. No one is above it. That is why team work is so important- to catch the mistakes.

As a surgeon I am appalled to hear this. I do think you need to make a complaint. A patient complaint brings an additional weight to the internal procedures. This complication should have been acted on much sooner. Please do complain and after 6 months or so do seek advice from a lawyer.

My son had a stoma reversal following a J pouch procedure. Although it was a small operation compared to the initial surgeries, his surgeon left us in no doubt it was still pretty serious. He had the surgery on the 19th of December and was allowed home on Christmas Eve. No food for the first day or so and then jelly, yoghurt etc until his bowel started working again. The nursing staff were checking him constantly during this time with great emphasis on not rushing things.The thought of your daughter being sent home so quickly is shocking.
Please take care of yourself. It's after the event it really hits you and, to be honest. is almost like post traumatic stress. Take each day as it comes and concentrate on supporting each other. Everything else can be dealt with once your daughter's condition improves. Lots of love, hugs and prayers to you all. X

How are you today vanilla. I hope you had a peaceful night.

Thanks everyone. Dd has had a much more settled , stable night. Her temperature has finally come down to normal which is great. She is eating albeit small amounts but never the less her appetite is returning. Nobody has mentioned a dietician? She has never received any sort of nutrition /glucose etc etc . She has had fluid running continously via iv but I believe it to be just salty water (sodium chlorode/hartmans)

I'm so happy she is on the mend. I'm not surprised no one has offered her a dietician consultation. I've had bowel probs for 35 years and despite being in and out of hospital during that time, I have never been offered one either. In my experience the NHS is not really concerned about weight loss when you are ill.

That's great news Vanilla!
My son was in for a month with a severe bowel condition. He was on a special feed via a central line in his nexk for a few weeks, and saw a dietician regularly, for months afterwards.
I'm a nurse and worked in bowel surgery for years, as I mentioned previously. Ask a nurse if you can have a dietician referral please-it should have been done already! As it is you won't be seen until next week probably.
For now little and often. If it was me I'd be making little roast chicken sandwiches and bringing them in. But I realise that isn't so easy for you at the min.
Biscuits and drinks in between meals, soup ( could friends/family make some and bring it in in a flask?).
With my son it took months and months for the exhaustion to go. It takes it out of them. It was so difficult for us as a family too. Like you I had other children including a toddler at home and I slept in the hospital for 4 weeks too.
In my experience on a paediatric Ward, the parents are expected to do most of the work. Our ward didn't even have buzzers! They didn't need them because a parent was always expected to be with the child. My son didn't like me pin for a shower as he was afraid to be left on his own with no way of asking for help.

I thinking have an idea of which hospital you are in and I would ask for their "enhanced recovery programme" following bowel surgery. This is a series of interventions that will as it say enhance recovery and should include goal directed fluid therapy post surgery and nutritional advice from a dietician. Prob the anaesthetic consultant or surgeon will be the best person to speak to.
I think I guessed who you were as I think your daughter and I are friends through Facebook and I saw your status. I know your DD via horses and a local activity we do together x plus I think we have met too

http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/patient-information/gi/bowel-surgery-ERP.pdf
Hope this link works. I appreciate this may not be the hospital you are at

http://www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/services/surgicaltreatment-and-medicationn_colorectal-enhanced-recovery-programme.aspx

Or this one?

White grenaChe you are right with second one. Can you private message me who you are ??? I didn't put anything on my facebook status bit I believe my friend had placed a status on my wall explaining the situation ??

Sent PM x

I stand by what I said. I should have made clear that I did not mean this should happen now, obviously caring for DD is OP's priority right now. Reporting to GMC and NMC is completely different from making a legal claim. The fact remains that several medical/nursing personnel missed the fact that the patient had peritonitis. They should be held to account. The additional surgery will result in adhesions which carry the risk of future problems such as bowel obstructions. I am writing from experience sadly, seeing a child suffer repeatedly because of an initial failure to make a correct diagnosis is a nightmare. And because of the risk of recurrence the fear that it could happen again never leaves you. I too have spent many anxious days and nights in hospital with a sick child. Some posters seem oblivious to the longer term implications.

Sorry to hear about your DC's experience, user1493630944. Pretty much everyone on this thread agrees that the hospital should be held to account. But firing off complaints about all the doctors/nurses involved in a scattergun way is not a good idea. It will lead to the OP being taken less seriously. Also, the GMC/NMC automatically refer complaints back to the hospital concerned if there hasn't yet been a local investigation, so it's pointless.

The OP needs to make a formal complaint to the hospital and ask that all the learning from the investigation of the complaint and Serious Incident is shared with her, under the Duty of Candour. If the investigation reveals serious wrongdoing by any clinician, the hospital should refer him/her to the GMC or NMC themselves. This doesn't always happen of course but, if it doesn't, the OP can then refer them herself.

Would I be able to request to read her notes ? Or is this a confidentiality issue and I'd be declined ?

Definitely request your notes. Like someone else said they do tend to go 'missing' once you put a complaint in ...... we had similar happen and after pushing we wee them given falsified notes it's an absolute nightmare.
Write down a chronology while it's fresh In your mind and requset notes and take photos of notes if they are at the end of your dds bed

You are entitled to see all her notes. You may be required to put the request in writing and they are legally allowed to charge up to £50 for a copy set (they don't tend to charge when a patient requests them). They must provide them within 5 weeks of the request being received.

Am I allowed to read the ones hanging outside her door in a file holder on wall ? She has her own room and her notes hang on the wall outside ? Don't want to get in trouble ??

Yes I would and take photos too

Unfortunately things tend to get lost or 'changed' so best to have a record of it. Sorry to sound like a conspiracy theorist but it happened to us

Am I allowed to read the ones hanging outside her door in a file holder on wall

You need her consent if she is mature enough to give it (which most 14 year olds are). Strictly speaking you should apply for copies in the way hotch describes - rather than look at the file - but, in reality, the worse that is going to happen is that someone asks you to stop.

Absolutely make a complaint to pals, but don't expect much response other than cursory we have received your complaint , will be in touch etc ..I have made 2 separate complaints regarding serious instances but have had no tangeable responses that made me feel like a change would be made. I'm sorry you too have experienced our understaffed, underfunded Nhs ...just be grateful it's still here and free of charge for now.....

Just to say good luck to you and your lovely daughter, OP. If you want to look at your daughter's notes just write something saying I authorise my parents to look at my notes and discuss my case with medical staff and get her to sign it if she feels able and wants to.

Hope she continues to improve and that you get some sleep. Your main thing at the moment is to keep on top of the situation eg bedsores, checking nutrition, asking what's happening next. And if you have any energy left over, writing a diary as other posters have suggested of what happened when and any names (incuding current ones) that you can recall.

Good luck to you, DD and the rest of your family, God bless