THE family of a pensioner whose illness was twice misdiagnosed say the "diabolical" mistakes made at Darlington Memorial Hospital mean they are still suffering two years after his death.

Doctors initially thought 79-year-old Maurice Wright, from Ferryhill, County Durham, had cancer when he was admitted in March 2013.

The retired supermarket assistant manager, who worked at the town's Liptons store for a number of years, was later correctly diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism - a blood clot on the lungs.

However, during a subsequent hospital admission staff wrongly concluded that Mr Wright had a pulmonary fibrosis - scarring on the lungs.

The mistake was later corrected but Mr Wright's family say the errors were symptomatic of the treatment received by the pensioner in the months before his death in July that year.

Sons Gary and Stephen Wright, and daughter-in-law Beverley, all from Ferryhill, say Mr Wright and his family were repeatedly let down by medical staff both at the Darlington hospital and at Bishop Auckland Hospital. The mistakes and failings include:

  • Twice wrongly diagnosing Mr Wright's condition
  • Losing his hearing aid meaning he was unable to understand staff
  • Failing to begin a suitable palliative care pathway
  • Consultants ignoring requests by Mr Wright's family to discuss his condition
  • Consultants and nursing staff showing an uncaring attitude

The family say there was even a mistake on Mr Wright's death certificate which wrongly stated he had pulmonary fibrosis.

Beverley Wright, 49, said the errors meant the family had unanswered questions about her father-in-law's death.

She added: "Had he been properly diagnosed and given the right treatment could he have been around for a few more years? We just don't know.

"He was such a smart, gentle man and he deserved better. His care was diabolical."

His son Gary Wright, 55, added: "The trust apologised but that doesn't answer all the questions we have.

"The trust's motto is 'with you all the way' but they weren't with him all the way and they weren't with us."

After complaining to County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust about Mr Wright's treatment and being unhappy with the response, the family contacted the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

PHSO found there had been serious failings in Mr Wright's care, although it concluded that different treatment would not have altered the outcome.

The family's copy of the report states that one of the consultants working at Bishop Auckland Hospital who dealt with Mr Wright was registered with the General Medical Council, but was not licensed to practice.

Mrs Wright said they were unclear about the significance of this revelation.

In response to the family's criticism, the trust said it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on the case.

However, a spokeswoman added: "This was a very sad case and we did identify areas where we had let the patient and their family down with our delivery of care, and for this we have apologised directly.

"We have had meetings with the patient’s family to talk through and address their concerns and based on these discussions we carried out a thorough investigation.

"This highlighted areas for learning and action plans were put in place which included making changes to our education programme which have been carried out to ensure improvements have been made.”

The family spoke out as a new report published today by the PHSO revealed that the top three reasons for hospital complaints in the last financial year were poor communication, errors in diagnosis and poor treatment.