Hospital Complaint - Meeting with clinical leads

[MrsT007]

Hello everyone.

Apologies if this is the wrong thread to post in - I’m just looking for a little advice about a meeting we have on Friday.

To cut a very long story short, we took our son, who was 7 months old at the time, to A&E and there were a number of failures from the get go. He ended up being transferred to Alder Hey and needed two surgeries and weeks and weeks of antibiotics.

We submitted a complaint to the hospital and they’ve arranged a meeting with us at which the clinical leads from each department will be attending to discuss what happened.

We’re not seeking compensation - we want acknowledgment of the failings, an apology, and to know what measures are being put in place to stop it happening to someone else. **This hospital has a history of negligence which has lead to a number of children losing their lives sepsis.

I was wondering if anyone had had a meeting such as this before, whether there is anything in particular I should be saying, quoting, asking for? We don’t want money from them but I just don’t want to be fobbed off.

Thanks for reading!

Make a list of your questions and be persistent if they drop into jargon and you need clarification. Do you have the hospital notes to refer back to? Make your own notes and ask if there will be minutes made available to you afterwards. Has there been a complaint via pals or any internal investigation to bring this meeting about and perhaps learning from the case? Do they intend to follow it up further? Think about what you need to hear to give you closure.

Thanks so much for your reply.

I sent the complaint straight through to the Director as per their complaint procedure notes online. Then got a call from complaints, I think PALs, who arranged the meeting as I did say I wanted a face to face conversation.
He did say at the time that we could escalate further if we’re not happy with the outcome of the meeting.

And yes, we have all the notes from his case. One doctor submitted a Datix report at the time too for internal review but it’s come back and we’re not happy with the notes on that as well so will be bringing that up on Friday as well.

Great point about minutes being available - I’d not thought of that!

Good luck. We found the Clinical Leads quite defensive initially but the outcome of the meeting was taken seriously enough for an investigation to follow and processes to change. However that in itself dragged on and was frustrating. Hope your dc is now doing well.

Thank you. He’s doing ok now - being monitored long term by Alder Hey but as a pre-caution.

Thanks for your advice

Try not to be intimidated by them; It isn't easy facing the 'experts and challenging their care, but you can do it!

As others have said, go with a list of questions.
What assessment did you do when he arrived?
Who did it (to establish clinical seniority of assessor a physicians assistant for example, or a consultant)?
What part of the assessment (physical examination, blood tests) led you to take the treatment decisions you did?
When did you realise that these were not working?
What did you do next?

It's down to the '5 whys' approach - this helps them identify what went wrong and why. It will help you focus too

Good luck and hope your little dot is better soon

All this plus
Are there clear protocols or care pathways that were not followed
Did any member of staff raise a concern
Were the staff suitably trained and competent in their assessments and treatment
Was senior or specialist help sought, by whom, at what stage
What changes are in place to stop this happening again
What do they think could be improved, where do they accept they failed

Is the meeting being minuted or recorded. Are you taking anyone with you such as an advocate to support you and ensure a fair meeting.

Look at VoiceAbility advocacy service

Thank you so much for your replies.

The meeting went ok. I was worried at first that one of the attendees seemed defensive and said from the off that he disagreed with our claim that there had been failings and neglect. That got my back up straight away.

But, as we went through the complaint bit by bit, I think he realised we weren’t for being fobbed off and that he couldn’t ‘hide’ behind jargon and ‘procedure’.

Turns out one of the surgeons involved in my sons care hasn’t been truthful when asked about what happened, but luckily I had no qualms about ‘correcting’ this version and was able to get my point across - I think it shocked them really, but as soon as I’d realised what was happening last year, I made sure we made notes after every interaction as I knew we’d be making a complaint. Turns out our version of events fits with what other doctors witnessed too so I felt validated knowing that.

I think we’ve had the closure we’re looking for, and I’m hoping they’ve really learnt lessons to stop this happening to someone else.

Little one is doing well, just being monitored for long term effects now, so far there aren’t any but we won’t know until he grows a bit more.

Thanks again for all the support. It really helped

Good for you, its stressful enough without having to meet with several people who may be defensive and dishonest. Doctors need to be held to account and encouraged to be transparent and admit their mistakes. I hope your son is okay and you find peace, you have shown great integrity and strength of character, you could probably have taken this further. Hopefully there will be an internal investigation too,

Brilliant! Well done. Not an easy thing to do, but you have been courageous enough to tackle them and hopefully, they will learn from this.
Hope all goes well for your wee dot