Delays, rudeness, misdiagnoses and a missing wedding ring spark hospital complaints from patients

But hospitals also get praise from public for standard of care, records reveal

Today at 01:30

A patient whose wedding ring went missing, a family whose mother had not had her hair washed and brushed for a week, and a patient found wandering in the car park were among the complaints made at one of the country’s busiest hospitals last year.

A log of complaints from Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital details how patients and their loved ones recorded formal complaints more than 650 times.

The total was higher at the country’s most overcrowded medical facility, University Hospital Limerick, where 1,140 issues were logged, an average of more than three a day.

A database at Beaumont reveals a range of problems around Covid restrictions, treatment delays and claims of staff being rude.

In one case, a daughter raised concerns about how her elderly mother had been treated when she was discharged with a bruise on her shoulder, according to a log released under freedom of information law.

Concerns were also raised by one woman who found her mother in the car park in a dressing gown.

Missing items were flagged too with the family of one patient asking about a laptop that had gone missing.

The Beaumont complaint log said: “All the ward managers checked and looked but could not locate [it].”

Other items reported as having vanished were a gold chain, a pair of dentures, hearing aids, and a bag with €300 in it.

Covid restrictions also caused consternation with one patient called in for a PCR test pre-surgery only to be told the procedure was being cancelled, which had already happened “a few times”.​

A neurology patient was unhappy about virtual appointments with his consultant, saying he felt he needed a “walk-in” meeting with doctors.

There was a bill dispute in one case where a person contracted Covid and ended up with a protracted stay in the hospital as a result.

Another cancer patient who contracted coronavirus was unhappy after being transferred to a “Covid cohort bay”, so self-discharged because of it.

In one case, a patient complained after a lump was spotted during a procedure and a doctor was heard to say “oohhh” and asked a nurse to take pictures.

There were also complaints about misdiagnosis with one patient sent home who subsequently turned out to have broken bones in their spine. Another was later found to have three shoulder fractures.

Beaumont Hospital also registered multiple occasions where people had asked that staff be thanked for the good treatment they were given.

“Patient complaint management is of the utmost importance, serving as a critical feedback loop that enables the hospital to identify and improve areas of concern ultimately leading to improved patient care and overall operational excellence,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.

“The hospital is committed to the provision of patient-centred care by acknowledging patients concerns, taking steps to resolve them and identifying key trends to drive service improvement and patient safety.”

Separately, University Hospital Limerick logged more than 1,100 complaints last year with 447 of these relating to the provision of safe and effective patient care.

There were also 195 issues raised around access to healthcare, 281 about communications, and 99 complaints concerning dignity and respect.

The hospital also had complaints about privacy, participation, improving health and accountability.

A spokesman said complaints were managed in line with local and HSE policy with designated complaints officers in place.

“Part of the complaint investigation process is the priority to identify the learning, develop recommendations where appropriate and to progress the implementation of same,” he said.