Frustration as Peterborough woman left waiting for over a year for full response to complaint about mother's care

A Peterborough woman has said that she has been left waiting for over a year for a response to a complaint into the handling of her mother’s care.

Jo Curphey initially made a complaint to Peterborough City Hospital in April 2023 for allegedly failing to diagnose her mother Kathleen Metters (73) with Hydrocephalus.

The condition is a build-up of fluid in the brain. The excess fluid puts pressure on the brain, which can damage it.

Kathleen has been diagnosed with the condition but only following a couple of falls in 2022, which have triggered the condition and caused her physical condition to deteriorate considerably.

Kathleen has also suffered a fall in hospital, a further part of the complaint.

Kathleen has previously been diagnosed with Parkinson’s but her family had been pushing doctors- prior to the falls- to made an additional diagnosis as they could see her condition getting worse.

The family, however, say that they were told by doctors that what was happening was simply due to the Parkinson’s.

Once the condition was diagnosed in hospital, Kathleen’s family have said that they have also been left dissatisfied with a number of elements of her care, including the lack of a fall assessment in the hospital.

A year on, however, Jo has been left waiting for s satisfactory response.

She said: “We knew mum had Parkinson’s but her symptoms were progressing at a really slow pace.

"When she fell, her like changed dramatically and she began to change dramatically. We were told by a GP that Hydrocephalus can be triggered by a head injury and to get an MRI but we were told by the hospital that it was just due to the Parkinson’s.

“I put in the complaint in April. It was acknowledged and I got a response on August 27 but so many things were missed out of the response and things that I had asked, we’re not mentioned.

"Therefore I had to put in a further complaint and after being told I would receive a response in 30 working days, it got to October and I had been fobbed off so many times.

"They stopped replying after then. All of the responses so far have been typical medical responses and lacking in addressing the real concerns when I’ve already been told in the past that the case has been fully investigated. It is very worrying.”

In response to the concerns in Kathleen’s case and to suggestion that the trust was facing a significant backlog in complaints, Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough City Hospital, said: “We are aware of the complaint from Ms Metters and we are working closely with the relevant clinical team to investigate the circumstances.

“Ms Metters have been contacted on Wedensday morning and we are hoping to finalise a response within the next two working days.

“Patient safety remains our highest priority and we always carry out thorough investigations into all formal complaints. Unfortunately this can sometimes be time consuming but we do endeavour to respond as quickly as we can, appreciating the sensitivities and upset for the patient.

“We apologise for the time it is taking to reach a resolution, but we remain in regular contact with Ms Metters and will provide a further update as soon as possible.”