Physical abuse and incorrectly labelled blood samples were among a string of more than 50 complaints levelled at Ipswich Hospital in just one month.

A report due to be discussed by the trust’s board members tomorrow has revealed the number of recorded grievances against the hospital has risen from 48 in September to 56 in October.

In one ‘high level’ complaint lodged last month, a patient claimed they suffered physical abuse in the Brantham Assessment Unit. This is under investigation by the adult safeguarding team.

Other issues raised in October include:

• A pressure sore developing on a patient while on the Woodbridge Ward;

• Consultant lacking empathy and answering two personal telephone calls during a clinic appointment;

• District nurse shouting at a patient and damaging their arm by taking blood incorrectly;

• Blood samples labelled incorrectly on several occasions;

• Complications following a circumcision procedure;

• No communication with family via telephone when a patient was dying and delay completing death certificate;

• Too many patients in the corridor at A&E and a six-hour delay in an ambulance picking patient up from home;

• Patient discharged from A&E with an undiagnosed hairline fracture of the pelvis;

• Dementia sufferer was copied into an email relating to a different patient.

Jan Ingle, a spokeswoman for Ipswich Hospital, said: “Being open and transparent about not only all the very positive things taking place in the hospital but also being open about things when we don’t always get it right is very important to us.

“All the complaints mentioned in the report to the public board have either been investigated or are under investigation and we carefully look into every aspect of all the issues which are raised. We then offer the person who raised the concerns to have a personal meeting to discuss the outcome of that investigation and we take every issue raised very seriously.

“We can’t pre-judge the outcome of any complaint until the investigation has taken place.

“We publish a quality account every year and that account will be available online and also highlights all the complaints that have been made.

“We actively encourage people to tell us their story and whilst it is pleasing to note we get five times more compliments and praise, it’s really important that we take every complaint with the utmost seriousness.”