The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Care complaint not resolved after a year
A Peterborough woman has said that she has been left waiting for over a year for a response to a complaint into the handlingofhermother’scare.
Jo Curphey initially made a complaint to Peterborough City Hospital in April 2023 for allegedly failing to diagnose her mother Kathleen Metters (73) with Hydrocephalus.
The condition is a buildup of fluid in the brain. The excess fluid puts pressure on the brain, which can damage it.
Kathleen has been diagnosed with the condition but only following a couple of falls in 2022, which have triggered the condition and caused her
physical condition to deteriorate considerably.
Kathleen has also suffered a fall in hospital, a further part of the complaint.
Kathleen has previously been diagnosed with Parkinson’s but her family had been pushing doctors - prior to the falls - to made an additional diagnosis as they could see her condition getting worse.
The family, however, say that they were told by doctors that what was happening was due to the Parkinson’s.
Once the condition was diagnosed in hospital, Kathleen’s family have said that they have also been left dissatisfied with a number of elements of her care, including the lack of a fall assessment in the hospital.
Jo said: “I put in the complaintinApril.Itwasacknowledged and I got a response on August 27 but so many things were missed out of the response and things that I had asked, we’re not mentioned.
"Therefore I had to put in a further complaint and after being told I would receive a response in 30 working days, it got to October and I had been fobbed off so many times.”
Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough City Hospital, said: “We are aware of the complaint from Ms Metters and we are working closely with the relevant clinical team to investigate the circumstances.
“Patient safety remains our highest priority and we always carry out thorough investigations into all formal complaints. Unfortunately this can sometimes be timeconsuming but we do endeavour to respond as quickly as we can, appreciating the sensitivities and upset for the patient.
“We apologise for the time it is taking to reach a resolution, but we remain in regular contact with Ms Metters.”