"A disgrace"

Dear Sir/Madam Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I wanted to provide you with an immediate response having read the detail in your story. I am so sorry that both you and your mother have had this experience of care at North Tyneside Hospital. I felt disappointed and saddened to learn that your mother has suffered a great deal of discomfort and pain after her fall. I am very sorry that the fractures were not identified at her initial visit to the hospital. I do understand why you might wish to complain and how important it is that you receive a timely response to this. It is also very important to us as an organisation that we get to hear about your concerns as close to the event as possible to enable us to act swiftly. We do have processes in place to track how quickly we do this, in order to understand our performance at department level, but, clearly on this occasion, we have failed to come back to you within the timeline that was agreed. I am very sorry that this has happened and would share your view that a delay of this nature falls way below the standards of service we would expect to offer our patients and their families. I would like to offer to look into this on your behalf but I am unable to take things further whilst this post remains anonymous. Please do contact me at: Annie.laverty@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk I would also very much like to pass on my apologies directly to your Mother if you feel it is appropriate to put me in touch with her. With many thanks once again and best wishes, Annie Annie Laverty - Director of Patient Experience