Inquiry Into Brain Tumour Misdiagnosis

Below is a copy of a letter received on the 22nd October 2009 from Jane Bolding, Patient Engagement and Complaints Manager at the Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust:

"Dear Mr Huckle,

Complaint regarding your daughter's diagnosis

As discussed by telephone with you, we have received a letter from David Lepper MP, together with your account of your daughter's health problems. I am sorry to hear that your daughter has been so ill, and am glad to hear that she is on the mend.

I have noted that we do have a completed consent form from you; however, I have sent you another by email in order that you can consent to us accessing Tara's medical records. Once we have this consent, I will contact both the GP and the hospital Trust to ak for their response to the issues you raised.

As I mentioned to you, once we have the responses from the GP practice and the hospital, I will ask our Medical Advisor to review the case before coming back to you with a full response.

I have enclosed a leaflet for the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS); this service provides independent help and support to people wishing to complain about the NHS, which may be useful to you.

I will be in touch again once we have had a response from the GP Practice and the hospital trust; in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss the issues further."

*Note. Consent forms have been emailed back, and we have not involved ICAS. The inquiry that Jane Bolding is running is all that we could ask for anyway, and feel that involving ICAS would complicate matters unnecessarily.