The Hull Daily Mail is to work with the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust to improve medical services.

The move comes after the paper received a series of complaints about Hull Royal Infirmary, sparked by the story of a woman who only discovered she was dying from motor neurone disease after diagnosing her condition from a magazine article.

Her husband discovered doctors had suspected the terminal illness for two years but didn’t tell them, and the hospital has now apologised for the “inadequate care”.

Several other readers have since contacted the paper about alleged incidents, and following the Mail’s findings, the trust’s chief executive, Chris Appleby, agreed to meet with the paper to discuss the situation.

The paper put a number of questions to him on behalf of its readers, and he admitted that the service was under pressure and pledged that things would get better.

He also wrote an open letter to Mail readers reassuring them that mistakes are rare.

He said: “As a result of the Mail’s interest in our services, and both of our important roles in the community, we have asked the paper to work with us to publicise opportunities for people to become involved in shaping our service for the future.

“We will also provide the paper with information about what changes we make as a result of increased patient involvement.”

The Mail has praised Mr Appleby for discussing the issues in public, and accepted the invitation to work with the trust.

It said: “For our part, we will do everything we can to help create a greater understanding between the trust and its patients.”

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