letter of complaint

Hi all, what do you think of this letter, there are some grammatical errors and I need some other dates but just need any input, thanks xx

Dear CEO

This letter comes to you as a result of what I believe to be a lack of care and professionalism with regard to the treatment of my daughter, leading to a relatively straight forward and simple procedure being performed incorrectly, I feel I have no other option but to make a formal complaint.

My daughter was born on 02-01-10 and showed signs of reflux from just a couple days old, she was later diagnosed with severe gastro oesophageal reflux disease and is currently being treated with omeprazole to try and reduce the acid levels causing her severe pain. She has a long history of hospital admissions and outpatient appointments so I will try to keep the details I provide as brief and informative as possible.

On 18-03-10 I attended the outpatient clinic during a time where Jasmine was in real distress and pain, the paediatrician I saw took one look at her and recommended she be admitted. It was discussed during this time that myself and my partner have a strong family history of hiatus hernia (this can in fact be a cause of GERD) and so it was decided that an ultrasound scan be performed to either confirm or disprove that Jasmine was suffering from this structural abnormality. We were admitted with a view to having the scan the following day, during morning rounds of the 19-03-10 Dr Green visited. Whilst sat in a side room I heard her discussing Jasmines case with a colleague (as I understand is routine) clearly stating that an ultrasound scan is useless in the diagnosis of hiatus hernia, she then entered the room and proceeded to tell me that I needed to stop trying to find a medical reason for my daughter being so unsettled and generally miserable and because she was gaining weight there was no cause for concern. The scan I am pleased to say didn’t show any abnormalities but still I am none the wiser if Jasmine is in fact suffering from a hiatus hernia.

Over the last couple of months Jasmines symptoms have been poorly managed on omeprazole starting at a dose of 5mg and gradually rising to the now strong dose of 20mg per day. On this drug she no longer seems in extreme pain but is still uncomfortable and struggles on a daily basis. On a particularly bad day I took Jasmine to the accident and emergency department and she was examined by the out of hours GP. I took along a recording of Jasmine having an attack of choking and the GP stated after watching it that it looked liked Jasmine was choking on regurgitated acid, he also noted she had a sore throat with no sign of infection (GERD can lead to oesophagitis and sore throats which in my opinion is a real cause for concern). He recommended we see a paediatrician - we were first seen by a 2^nd year trainee doctor who listened to our concerns and watched my recording, Jasmine was then examined by his superior who noted that Jasmine had a sore throat and enlarged tonsils, after discussing the case with her superior she informed me the best course of action was to admit Jasmine for observation. I explained that I was not happy for Jasmine to be admitted for observation as we know she has GERD and it was a case of her needing further tests to see why the medication was not working sufficiently. The paediatrician explained that because she could not determine why Jasmine had a sore throat and was choking regularly (be it GERD or something else) it would be in Jasmines best interests to be admitted so I agreed. We were told to wait for a nurse who could take us to the children’s ward, we waited for over 2 hours to be admitted. During this time we were asked to seat in a public area so the room we were in could be used. Another paediatrician sat with me whilst my partner was at home packing for myself and Jasmine. He asked how things were and viewed my recording, after which he said that to him, Jasmine seemed happy and healthy so could go home and I’d need to wait until my next outpatient appointment. I explained I was unhappy with this course of action (unfortunately being in a public area other families were listening to this apparent consultation) and the reason I came to a and e was because Jasmine was choking and something more needed to be done for her, this was when her omeprazole was increased from 15mg to 20mg per day. I was told that Dr Tozer (Jasmines usual paediatrician) would be informed and I would be contacted with regard to an outpatient appointment but Jasmine was not going to be admitted and I could taker her home.

The following day I was contacted by one of your staff and informed that Dr Tozer had reviewed Jasmines case and felt that he did not need to see her prior to her next outpatient appointment but a ph study would be performed to determine the severity of her GERD, this was booked for 23-06-10

On the above date we arrived at Louisa cary at 11am where a nurse fitted the ph probe, Jasmine was then x-rayed to confirm the probe was in the correct position for the test, we were shown into a side room and after 20 minutes a nurse informed us that a doctor and confirmed the probe to be correctly positioned and Jasmine was hooked up to the ph monitor for 24 hours. The following day we were discharged and told someone would contact me with the results. I waited until the 28-06-10 but heard nothing (as I understand it ph study results are interpreted internally and so results should be available almost immediately). Dr Tozers secretary informed me the results were back but Dr Tozer was on annual leave until Tues 06-07-10 and so he would place the results on Dr Greens desk and she should get back to me. I heard nothing and left multiple messages (if Jasmine had been well I would have happily waited but the reason for the test was because Jasmine was suffering), on Monday 05-07-10 I left another message pleading with someone to contact me as I was very concerned about Jasmine, Dr Green contacted me and explained she knew very little of GERD but the results came back as Jasmine having acid in her throat for 70% of the test time, she presumed this was severe but couldn’t help me any further and I would need to wait for Dr Tozers return. This left me even more distraught as I now believed my daughter to be suffering severe pain for 20 hours out of 24 and was bemused to be told a paediatrician did not know about a relatively common disease.

Dr Tozer contacted me Back on weds 07-07-10 and apologised for not calling beforehand, he asked how Jasmine was and I explained she was still having severe pain episodes, still suffering from a sore throat and generally miserable. He went on to explain that when he saw Jasmines result he knew it cold not be correct and so examined her x-ray and instantly realised that the probe had been inserted into her stomach, this of course would invalidate the results as the stomach is an acidic environment, the purpose of the test was to see if any acid was escaping from the stomach into Jasmines oesophagus. He was deeply apologetic and said that a junior doctor must have looked at the x-ray and presumed it was a feeding tube placement but he cold not find any record to show which doctor looked at the x-ray. He explained the test should be performed again and a nurse would contact me to book her in at the next available opportunity (I have to date still heard nothing).

This really is the culmination of months of carelessness, ignorance and a never ending battle to get my daughter treated. I believe that because children outgrow this disease it is not taken seriously.

My main concerns are as follows

Through complaining I hope to improve the level of care that Jasmine receives and any tests that have to be performed are done so with a reasonable level of competence.

I have contacted the local MP for Torbay, Adrian Sanders who has stated he will support me and Jasmine in our hope to get her disease properly managed and if we do not gain satisfaction I will have no alternative but to take my complaint to a higher level.

I greatly appreciate your time in reading this letter and would hope for a quick response so that Jasmine can get the help she most greatly needs and deserves.

Yours faithfully

Emma kelly