Mrs B complained to us that the Trust failed to diagnose Mr B's hip fracture. By the time the Trust identified the fracture, he needed a hip replacement instead of a repair.
What happened
Mr B was admitted to hospital after a fall. The Trust treated him with pain relief and discharged him to a 'step down' hospital to recover. When his pain continued, the Trust readmitted him and gave him a half hip replacement. When this failed, the Trust gave him a full hip replacement. He sadly died some months after this.
Mrs B complained that the Trust had missed the hip fracture, gave the wrong treatment subsequently and as a result of this, Mr B quickly deteriorated and died.
What we found
The Trust failed to identify the hip fracture when it should have. We said that if it had been treated in good time, it is unlikely Mr B would have needed a replacement. We found the care and treatment after the Trust found the fracture to be reasonable. We said that we could not link the delay in diagnosis with Mr B's deterioration and death.
Putting it right
Mrs B and the Trust agreed with our report and accepted our findings and recommendations.
The Trust paid Mrs B £1,250 in recognition of the distress caused to her by the missed opportunity to treat her husband earlier, and for the subsequent poor complaint handling. It also produced an action plan to address the findings, identifying the lead and time frame for implementation and systems in place to measure the impact of its actions.
Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust
Essex
Came to an unsound decision
Did not apologise properly or do enough to put things right
Did not involve complainant adequately in the process
Did not take sufficient steps to improve service
Compensation for non-financial loss
Recommendation to learn lessons or draw up an action plan