Mr R complained that the Trust did not respond to his concerns that his daughter, Q's, tumour was expanding. He says that this meant that surgery to remove the tumour was delayed so that Q had to have radical surgery.
What happened
Q suffered from a tumour behind her eye. Doctors removed most of the tumour and Q wore a false eye.
Over the next six months, the Trust monitored Q's condition. However, a doctor made a mistake in Q's clinical notes about her false eye. After this, there were indications that Q's tumour was expanding but doctors did not notice. This was partly because they relied on Q's notes and thought her symptoms were caused by the false eye.
Q's parents raised concerns about this. Eventually, doctors noted that the tumour was expanding and some months later Q had surgery to remove most of the tumour. The remaining tumour continued to grow and Q underwent more significant surgery.
What we found
Doctors did not provide adequate follow up. There was poor communication between the ophthalmologist (eye specialist) and Q's parents, and the ophthalmology team did not respond appropriately to Mr R's concerns about Q's false eye.
Although these failings did not mean that Q needed more radical surgery than she otherwise would have, Q's family experienced uncertainty and worry.
Putting it right
Following our report, the Trust apologised for the failings and prepared an action plan to make sure that it has learnt lessons from the failings in care and treatment identified.
Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Foundation Trust
Greater London
Not applicable
Apology
Recommendation to learn lessons or draw up an action plan