NHS apologise for sending letter to deceased patient
September 1st, 2009The NHS has apologised to a family after sending an email addressed to a deceased patient.
Tom Milner died at the age of 76 at Sheffield Northern General Hospital three-and-a-half years ago.
Mr Milner’s daughter sent an email three-and-a-half years ago to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) shortly after her father had passed away.
The NHS recently sent out a response that was entitled ‘Dear Tom’. The NHS said they immediately apologised once they were made aware of the error and will review the current system in place.
Mr Milner’s family claimed that he was not given his prescribed pain-relieving morphine in the two days previous to his death.
However, the NHS claims that Mr Milner had said he was not in any pain despite suffering with terminal leukaemia.
“They responded with ‘Dear Tom’,” said Mr Milner’s daughter.
“It’s an example of the careless and shambolic attitude by the NHS towards my father and our family.”
A spokesman for the National Patient Safety Agency said: “The NPSA is aware that an error was made when responding to an email enquiry from the relative of a deceased patient.
“As soon as this was identified, we contacted the person involved and apologised for any distress caused.
“The NPSA has also since reviewed its systems to look at how it can ensure this does not happen again.”
We report it, you comment »