Hospital apologises for medical negligence
A Norfolk hospital has apologised to a family who discovered their father is suffering from terminal lung cancer due to a blunder.
The 80-year-old man from Colegate, in Norwich, was being treated at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH).
The medical negligence happened during his discharge. When he was discharged, the hospital mistakenly put his medical diagnosis in his bag of pills. The hospital said a consultant "immediately" apologised to the family.
The pensioner's daughter said discovering the news of their father's terminal illness was devastating to the entire family.
She said this wasnt the way they or their father would have preferred to know that he was suffering from lung cancer.
The daughter also said the family did not tell the man of the diagnosis until he saw a consultant a week later.
In a statement the NNUH said: "Unfortunately full copies of test reports were included in the discharge pack.(The patient's) consultant immediately phoned the family to apologise for this and met them in person the following week, where test results were explained in full."
The hospital also said such professional negligence cases would be avoided henceforth.
Updated on 05/03/2010