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The outlook for Subdural Haemorrhages is generally poor and a proportion of people die even with prompt surgery. It usually results in injuries to other parts of the brain and can result in long term neurological problems, as it causes pressure to the brain (intracranial pressure) which can damage very delicate brain tissue, if the patient survives.

The patient was in an area of the world where the medical facilities are unfortunately inferior to the UK. This is a geographical hazard that we can’t control but instead had to consider whether the risks of him staying there were greater than moving him.

The patient was in an area of the world where the medical facilities are unfortunately inferior to the UK. This is a geographical hazard that we can’t control but instead had to consider whether the risks of him staying there were greater than moving him.

The family made it clear that they wanted him back in the UK, immediately and did not appreciate the recommendations made by our Doctor.

The reality was that this patient had swelling on the Brain and placing him into an Air Ambulance at that time, would have further deteriorated his condition and the risk of fatality was high, something our doctors were not prepared to risk. After much pressure from the family, we provided them with details of air ambulances companies they could use, sadly within 36 hours the patient had passed away. This was not as a result of him having been denied transfer by AA, this was something we had considered at the time, to be a high possibility.

We were desperately trying to prevent a fatal outcome and preventing his death included NOT putting his brain into an environment that is contraindicated to his clinical situation and where we were unable to keep tight control of physiological variables that could make what was very critical situation, worse. There wasn’t anything we could have done to prevent this terrible outcome. We simply tried to keep their loved one safe and alive for as long as we could by making sure he was not placed into any unnecessary risk.

Our moral obligation to try and assist the patient and their family unfortunately resulted in a complaint, which at its heart was an accusation above our motives. To that, our motives was simply to ensure best clinical outcome for our customer.

The traveller was admitted on a stretcher and had her credit card taken from her bag by hospital staff, who immediately handed a card machine to her and made her authorise a £500 payment to them, before they would even consider treatment, they also took her passport.p>

She was in hospital for 4 days, receiving pain relief but with no formal examination from an Orthopaedic surgeon. She was back braced and laid flat, there were no Orthopaedic beds and so she was propped up occasionally using pillows, no one at this point knew what her actual injuries were.

She called tifgroup and we advised that she needed to urgently attend the University Teaching Hospital nearby, to have both X-Rays and MRI scans, so that her injuries could be firmly diagnosed. We contacted the private clinic who refused to speak to us, instead they lied to the patient and advised her that her insurers were not covering the costs and demanded payment in full from the patient of £6,500. The patient refused, explaining that £6,500 seemed like a lot of money for 4 days and no other treatment other than pain relief.

The hospital staff became immediately intimidating and aggressive, they advised that she would not be able to leave the country as they had her passport and threatened her with police action if she did not pay. The patient still refused to hand over her credit card having already paid £500 deposit. She then called tifgroup again, who then in turn called the consulate to assist as the clinic continued to refuse to deal with our teams. The consulate visited the facility, was unable to see or access the patient and was threatened by hospital staff with death if he ever visited their clinic again.

Despite many attempts made by tifgroup to deal directly with the private hospital they continued to refuse to deal with an overseas insurer, the hospital staff then subsequently withdrew her pain relief, leaving her in agony, and with no choice she had to pay the amount across her credit card, debit card and through a phone call with her parents to pay the money. She was then ‘released’ with no discharge report or actual diagnosis. She was able to make her way to the University Teaching Hospital who diagnosed her with a single fracture to a vertebra that could be conservatively treated, but a prolapsed disc that had been made worse as no appropriate immediate treatment had happened at the private facility. The delay in immediate treatment has meant that this is now a long term condition that requires ongoing management.

The private hospital diagnosed gastroenteritis and placed the child onto an IV saline solution for rehydration. The hospital declared that the child would be fine in a few days. tifgroup, advised that the child should be transferred to a children's unit attached to a University Teaching Hospital, but the private clinic criticised the quality of care at the public hospital and the parents made the decision for the young child to stay put. The next morning, the child’s condition had deteriorated and a doctor from the university teaching hospital was called to attend the private clinic.

The child was immediately transferred and underwent life changing surgery to remove almost their entire bowel.

The diagnosis; an obstructed superior mesenteric artery, the sole blood supply to the bowel. If the child had been transferred the previous night as suggested, they may have been able to bypass the blocked artery.