Update... missing medical records

[Pop007]

Anyone who has seen my previous posts may be aware that I’ve had some issues about my husbands care.

It’s a very long story... basically he was rushed into hospital with acute liver failure at the beginning of September. This was a day after he was given a iron infusion. ( he have low iron levels, which they now think was caused by loss of blood during a minor tooth op). I was told he wouldn’t survive the night, luckily he did.

The hospital didn’t think it was the infusion, ( apparently that is a v rare complication), although they don’t know what else caused it.

I made a formal complaint ( not yet had response). We did however receive the medical notes on Friday ( all 1500 pages going back to the 80’s).

The vital notes regarding the iron transfusion were missing. After trawling through paper work, we found a letter from Critical Care saying they also had asked for these notes but they were lost.

We also found discharge paperwork from resus ( we weren’t given this) saying- “. New deranged LFT’s indicate Fe induced hepatic failure “.

I really don’t know what to do next.

He’s really not right still and unable to work.

Any ideas?

[Hidden]

I personally would have thought that this would be an issue for that particular healthcare trust, this could well be an issue involving the data protection act 2018. If records and notes that should be confidential in nature are allowed to go astray, then they are not being maintained and safeguard in a proper manor. I would seek legal advice Pop, if this is the case. Even if these records have been removed, there should be an audit trail that shows who has removed them, when, and why. I am not legally trained in any way, (used to be a senior security manager in a previous life) so I would just go and have a chat with a lawyer that specialises in Data Protection. Good Luck.

[AyrshireK]

Smells more than a bit fishy to me, the one page that everyone needs and which covers the iron infusion treatment being missing. My suspicious mind is saying mistake, negligence and cover up - might be wrong but certainly something is ringing alarm bells especially when in later notes on the Resus doctors ARE saying it was FE induced liver failure.

None of this helps hubby get any treatment but I might be tempted to have a first meeting with a lawyer who specializes in medical negligence - first appointments are usually free.

What age is hubby and have they referred him to a specialist liver team? Is transplant an option if his liver is so badly damaged? He needs to be seen by a liver doctor.

Katie

[Pop007]

Well we had no follow up appointment from the gastro team. ( we had chased repeatedly). Until Thursday... phone call to ask him to come in Friday morning. Was v apologetic that no one had contacted him in the past 3 months. He didn’t seem particularly worried about his liver function, as it had returned to normal levels. However his liver enzymes are higher than they should be. He’s having biopsy next week. Can’t help thinking my complaint letter has caused this sudden interest...

[GrandmaDylan]

PALS are probably the best people to speak to about this issue. My daughter had a complaint about a missing appointment and they had sorted it out within a couple of days when we'd been chasing it for 18 months. Hope your husband gets good news after the biopsy. Deb

[Pop007]

I’ve tried PALS, they weren’t able to help and forwarded my email to the records office

[Hidden]

Good luck with appointment. Yes, alarm bells are ringing re lost notes, it does smell very fishy to me. Good luck with everything. Love and hugs Lynne xxxx

[scampi2122]

I agree, with the above comments, I sometimes wonder if the care I get relates to 'lost' results of a scan. It was not reported from March to July last year, then very quickly I was sat in front of top gastro man. I have now had just about everything they can do to look into my problems and get good care. So all the best