Hi All, Thank you for this information, I'll request this immediately. However I'm a little concerned when the patient has died, is it still the same procedure? And could the next of kin request this? Kind regards

Hello I have asked for the Medical Complaint file via the Access To Medical Records Act, however all the trust sent me was the electronic casenote tracking history, which was usless. Can you explain in more detail how to ask for SAR's and what does this cost? Kind regards

Hello, I'm so sorry to read about your MiL's poor care, I'm afraid the elderly are discriminated against in the NHS but there's nothing we can do about it. I even went to lobby MP Norman Lamb in London, without success. My father died, as a consequence of a strangulated hernia. Another issue is the "Prom's study, if you google this you will find that knee, hip, groin hernias, varicose vein operations etc are not being carried out nationally, due to poor outcomes. It does not matter if you are in severe pain, its just an excuse to save NHS money. I made an official complaint to the hospital about how my father died but I've just been fobbed off, with "lessons have been learnt". Legally there is no redress, as the value of a claim would be negliable, due to the age of my father. I hope you will be able to get help for your MiL, please keep us informed on your progress, it may help others. Regards

Hi All Mom never had legal assistance on her home insurance, however this year the insurance company offered this automatically for free. I have not enquired but I guess she's not covered because the event happened in 2008, when she was not insured. Kind regards

Dear All, Thank you for your advice, it is very much appreciated. To summarise the case, my father was admitted to hospital with a chest infection and was found to have lung cancer. He was discharged five days later and an outpatient bronchoscopy was arranged the following day to find out the type and stage. After the bronchoscopy my father seemed very poorly and instead of improving, he deteriorated. He was re-admitted as an emergency two weeks later. He spent a further 5 days in hospital and was diagnosed with limited stage small cell lung cancer. He was stablised and was in the process of discharge when this acute abdominal emergency took place. The doctor said it was either a strangulated hernia and or/bowel perforation, this was based on a past clinical history of groin hernia and the bedside examination. The xray report and the medical notes supports this view, however due to a breakdown in communication he was treated for faecal impaction i.e enema & saline drip. Therefore his pain (recorded as severe) was not monitored and was given no pain relief: five hours later he died. I have the medical records and a copy of the xray images on a cd disc, however these need to be looked at by an expert witness, so I'm a bit stuck. Any thoughts on the way forward? Kindest regards.

Dear All, I am a NHS complainant and my mother is having difficult getting a no win no fee solicitor on board. My 80 year old Mother owns her home and this is worth £120,000, so she does not qualify for legal aid. Its a bit scary for her to get a loan with a charge on the house. Is there any other options are available to my Mom with regard legal help? I understand there is a time limit of three years for legal claim, can this be extended as he died on the 20th June 2008? It taken so long because we waited 8 months for the hospital to reply to our first letter and 10 months to respond to my second letter. I do not know what my father died of, the cause of death listed on the death certificate was not the cause of death. I found the doctors written xray request form in the medical notes dated 20th June 2008 showing the presenting clinical problem of a bowel perforation/strangulated hernia. The hospital let my father die without intervention and without pain relief, we witnessed him dying in severe pain for 5 hours, it was horrific. Sorry to have burdened you with this, I'm pretty desperate as time is running out. Kind regards

Hi All I've been told its a Data Subject Access and it costs £10.00. Not sure what information it may contain. At my local LINKs they have queried the validity of PROM's - operations with poor outcomes such as knee, hip replacements, hernias and varicose veins. Has anyone experienced difficulty in getting these operations in the NHS?

Hi Frankieg I can explain why your father was sent home in such a poor state, its to do with HDMR's, if you want a further explaination, please let me know. The same thing happened to my father, a very poor discharge, with no home oxygen etc. I hope you have received my recent posts/messages (private). Regards

Hi, It seems the West Midlands NHS is in crisis. I am hearing fob off stories like these all the time, with damning consquences. Are there any other parts of the country where people are having difficulty getting a diagnosis and medical treatment for their illnesses? Just a thought - have you checked NICE for guidelines on your condition? Please keep us updated, so others might learn from your experiences. Regards

NHS meeting Okay, then take an independent witness, such as ICAS, however you need to register with them first and this will take some time. You may have to postpone the meeting.

Hi Evade5 Check out: npsa.nhs.uk Patient safety resources/patient safety topic/patient admission/right patient, right blood 9.10.2006 This patient safety organisation issues alerts/instructions to hospitals, which should be complied with. Print out the above document and attach it to your complaint.

Hi Frankieg, Regards the meeting you - if possible, secretly record the meeting; give them a list of questions you want answered regards the theatre (put it in every day real terms Eg "How would you like it if..." or "What if your dad..."); ask how the Trust is going to prevent a repeat and hold managers to account; ask how the information from your meeting will be fed back into the Clinical Governance system (and ask for a copy of evidence). The meeting is to try and "appease" you and stop things going further. This is an "acute emergency situation", they will try to play this down. Research the medical condition on the internet, find the associated protocols - what should have been done. Go with your gut instincts, as they are probably right.

I am saddened to hear stories like these, I feel your pain as this happened to my father in 2008. It was a similar scenario to F's, irriductable hernia/obstruction and perforation. He was only given 5mg of iv morphine for his pain. His medical notes states PRN morphine 2 hourly, however he was not given this because of staffing difficulties. He died an excruciating death a few hours later. My fathers medical notes are also incomplete, care notes and an x-ray are missing. I have made an official complaint to the NHS regarding his care and have received a response letter, which they deny any wrongdoing. I am not interested in compensation, I just want the truth, is that to much to expect? If anyone would like to contact me with regards to forming a support group, personal messages are welcome.

Hi If I claimed today i.e. 27th February 2009, would the qualifying tax years still be the same as above? If so, will I be able to continue to receive JSA for the following 6 months as I did not pay NI contributions after October 2007? Many thanks

My husbands illness's includes Depression/stress/anxiety/ocd/diabetes/neuropathy/overweight. At a recent appeal I attended as a witness for my husband. The panel accepted it would be difficult for him to manage to cook with several pans, however they suggested "would he be able to cook a simple meal of fried fish with two vegetables using a small lightweight pan"? This theory sounded quite feasible, so I said yes. However afterwards when I could think clearer about this, I was sure that they had not taken into account his diet requirements for diabetes i.e would need some form of carbohydrates with his meal and how these would be cooked in the same pan using a frying method? I do not know the outcome of this tribunal yet as they are sending this by post as they were running late. My question is: Did the tribunal approach the cooking test correctly?