Two complaints against Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust have been partially upheld by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, a new report has revealed.

They are among more than 160 investigations carried out across the country in October and November last year.

In one of the cases, police forced entry to a woman’s home after hospital staff told a friend she was not there.

The woman had been sent to the urgent care centre after attending A&E but staff failed to check and informed police officers she was missing.

When the patient arrived home, she found the police forcing down her front door.

BHRUT apologised and paid the woman £300 in recognition of the distress caused by the failings.

In another case, a woman diagnosed with temporal arteritis was given steroid medication to take home. But after a delay in her referral being processed, staff realised she had in fact been referred to the wrong department.

The woman was eventually informed that she did not have temporal arteritis but had suffered a number of side effects from the steroids. She was paid £350 and received an apology from the trust which runs King George Hospital in Goodmayes and Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

Parliamentary and health service ombudsman Julie Mellor said: “These cases show the impact that service failure can have on individuals and their loved ones.

A spokeswoman from BHRUT said: “As one of the busiest trusts in the country, we are pleased that we receive fewer complaints than many other hospitals. However, providing our patients with the quality care and experience they deserve is our main priority, and we address any concerns raised as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

“As an open and honest organisation we encourage people to raise any issues they may have. Feedback from patients and visitors is crucial in helping us to improve.

“We have a conversation with anyone who complains so we can be clear about their concerns and how they would like us to resolve them.

“We have been working to improve the quality of our responses. If mistakes have been made, we make clear what actions we will be putting in place to ensure a similar situation does not arise again.”