Delay in arranging meeting to discuss complaint about delay

What happened

When Mr J went to A&E at the Trust, he had to wait a long time to see a doctor. The doctor diagnosed Mr J with an infection and he went home.

Mr J complained to the Trust about how long he had to wait. The Trust apologised and said its A&E department was very busy that day. Mr J was not convinced by the Trust's explanations, and it agreed to arrange a meeting to discuss his concerns. Four months later, the meeting had still not taken place. Mr J was unhappy and complained to us.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. It took too long for Mr J to be seen by a doctor in A&E, but the Trust acknowledged this. Its letters to Mr J included a reasonable amount of detail to show that A&E was extremely busy and that it had been taking action to treat patients as quickly as possible. We agreed that this was enough to put things right.

However, the Trust took too long to arrange the meeting with Mr J after he complained, and it had not kept him updated about the arrangements.

Putting it right

The Trust apologised to Mr J for taking too long to organise a meeting to discuss his complaint, and it did not keep him updated about this. It also explained how it will stop this problem from happening again.