Letter of Complaint

When I was struggling with myself not knowing what to do with pain and sorrow in my heart, I remembered a book titled "What to do when someone dies" which had been kindly given by the Abbey. One chapter was telling me about the grief process. It says that the different stages of grief that a person may go through include shock, sorrow, anger, apathy and depression before the process of recovery can begin.

I haven't written much about anger in this blog but naturally I did feel angry about myself for not being able to help Iain and about the doctor who saw him first. I went to see the doctor a few days after the Buddhist funeral and afterwards I decided to write a letter of complaint to the PCT. I'll copy it here in the hope that this helps someone somewhere in the world.

Dear Sirs,

I’m writing this letter on behalf of my late husband Dr. Wilfred Iain Thomas Robinson.He died of a heart failure on the 14th of July, 2011 in Cumberland Infirmary. He was 64.

Iain was taken into the CCU at the above hospital on the 12th in an ambulance. The attending doctor at the hospital diagnosed that Iain had had a minor heart attack several days before. Suffering from severe pain in his left arm on the night of the 7th, he saw Dr. A at B Medical Practice on the 8th and was diagnosed as having a frozen shoulder. Iain told me that he explained to Dr. A that in addition to the pain on his left upper arm, he had a slight chest pain on his left side as well. When I met Dr. A and talked with him on the 2nd of August, he told me that he did not remember any of the conversation. On top of that, he said that he was not aware of Iain being diabetic. I understand that this information is in his medical file easily available for reference. There is a possibility of misdiagnosis due to carelessness and negligence.

In retrospect the symptoms that Iain experienced were that of a heart attack or angina and it is well recognised that people with diabetes are at high risk of ischaemic heart disease and that they can present atypically. Frozen shoulder is common in people with diabetes but is not usually of sudden onset and it is exacerbated by lifting the shoulder but not associated with chest pain.

The possiblity of angina was not considered by Dr. A as no ECG was performed nor was an examination of Iain's chest. It is possible that if an adequate examination had been undertaken the heart attack would have been diagnosed earlier. If this had happened, Iain's chances of survival would have been increased and he may have been admitted earlier to hospital and received treatment for his acute coronary syndrome which could have enabled him to have undergone angioplasty. Unfortunately Iain was not given this opportunity as Dr. A failed to listen fully to Iain and fixated on the wrong diagnosis.

Before my husband died, he had shown dissatisfaction about Dr. A’s diagnosis and attitude on three occasions. First, he told me he was not impressed with the doctor right after he saw him on the 8th. Next, Iain told his priest about it on the phone on the 12th. Thirdly, Iain told me about making a formal complaint about the doctor when I visited him at the hospital on the 13th. He felt that he was not properly heard. Therefore, I have good reasons to believe that this is what he would do if he were alive today.

To keep my mind in peace I would like you to investigate Dr. A and require him to really reflect on his own practice.

Since I am traveling back to Japan for several months on the 31st August, I will appreciate it if you could contact me as soon as possible at the above address or by phone on xxx. After that date, please write to me to my Japanese address.

Yours sincerely,

(signed)

posted by Edera