NHS and conveniently lost medical records

[Pop007]

Why can the NHS hide behind lost medical records?

My husband had acute liver failure the day after he was given an iron infusion. ( long story, which I have posted before) I was told he would die. The discharge notes from resus state the failure was caused by the iron overdose.

He survived.... but when we asked for the medical notes, all the notes from the infusion day are missing.

After contacting a solicitor we have been told that they can’t take on the case, as they need the notes to prove he was given an overdose.

This doesn’t seem right or fair to me.

He hasn’t been able to work since the incident and we are basically living off savings.

Don’t know where to turn or what to do.

[AyrshireK]

Surely there is a protocol about the keeping of documents - even if nothing else there is a failure in the documentation of what did happen with that infusion. Totally wrong. This has stunk from day one. Have you by any chance contacted your MP? They might be able to look into this better without it costing you money.

I hope someone can get answers for you. The fact one lot of documents does detail an iron induced liver failure the day after an iron infusion that there are witnesses too even if the documentation has conveniently vanished.

Very, very, very wrong.

Katie xx

[Grank]

Perhaps you need a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence? I know two personally who specialise (paediatric and cosmetic surgery) but not one who deals specifically in haematology. Best wishes.

[Pop007 in reply to Grank]

Well we found we were covered for medical negligence under our house insurance. These are the solicitors they allocated

[AyrshireK in reply to Pop007]

I'd actually go to a reputable 'no win, no fee' lawyer where it would be in their interest to win rather than your paid ones who most likely won't do the best job for you but would make sure they rack up a fee. Ok you pay out something like 20% of your settlement but getting 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

There must surely be a legal requirement for documentation to be kept and the fact it has 'conveniently' gone missing following a potential error is a glaringly obvious cover up.

Katie

[Hidden]

I would have thought that this would appear to have been a data breach of confidential medical information going missing. This, to me is a form of medical negligence as this healthcare trust has a duty to protect this information.

I would go back to your solicitor and ask for further advice so that you can give them some instruction. Or better still engage another solicitor.

I would make a request under the Freedom of Information Act and seek to find out why this data breach was allowed to happen.