"Wife's transfer to Kent & Canterbury Hospital"

In March 2012 my wife was transferred from Kings to Kent & Canterbury Hospital (Treble Ward).

The transfer took place late on a Friday evening despite initial advice the transfer would be effected on the following Tuesday morning, specifically an HDU to HDU transfer.

My wife's condition deteriorated within hours of acceptance onto Treble Ward, resulting in an extended period of weeks within an ICU/HDU environment. Whereupon the ICU consultant informed us over my wife's bed in an open ward that they (the MDT) were placing my wife on the 'Liverpool Care Path'. We were subsequently moved to a private medical facility, where my wife spent six months in rehabilitation.

I raised a complaint via PALS which the trust acknowledged. A meeting was arranged and the outcome was, in the words of the ICU consultant assigned to the case: 'As a result of a botched transfer, no outreach staff were on duty to accommodate J's needs'.

I had before the meeting started, requested that I be allowed to record the meeting both audio and video. I had the equipment with me. I was advised by the PALS coordinator that the meeting was being recorded both audio and video and that I would receive a full transcript. She even showed me the glowing lights on the equipment to emphasise the equipment was 'on and working'.

Two days after the meeting, I received a telephone call to apologise that the equipment was in fact faulty and had not been working. The resulting written response did not reflect what we had discussed and the agreements we had made. It was a watered down version, making no mention of the 'botched transfer'.

I feel as though I have been lied to, and taken as some sort of idiot. I am in the process of reporting my dissatisfaction to the Ombudsman and reviewing my options via a civil suit to seek the truth and the conclusions the group made during the physical meeting.