Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs P complains on behalf of both her son P and herself, about pre and post-natal care provided by the Trust during her pregnancy and when P was born in April 2018.

4. She states that:

· during pregnancy, the Trust ignored her medical history of pre-cancerous cell removal from her womb and did not advise her if this could have any impact on P’s development.

· when she suffered from a urinary tract infection (UTI) while pregnant, she was prescribed antibiotics, but the medical staff did not appreciate the impact this may have had on P’s development.

· the above issues contributed to her giving birth early. During this early birth, P was deprived of oxygen. It is believed that this contributed to his developmental issues.

· when P was born and she was told of the challenges he may have, the Trust should have preserved the placenta for tests. However, the Trust instead destroyed the placenta.

5. Mrs P believes the above issues contributed to her giving birth early. She says during this early birth, P was deprived of oxygen. She believes that contributed to his development issues. She says the Trust’s failure to advise her of the risks of potentially pre-cancerous cells, and the Trust prescribing an antibiotic for a UTI while she was pregnant, could have impacted her pregnancy. Mrs P also says she was unable to get answers to her above queries because the placenta was wrongly destroyed.

6. Mrs P says she found the complaints process deeply frustrating and it has added to her burdens during an already stressful time.

7. Mrs P wants an apology, systemic improvements and financial compensation for her loss of earnings while caring for her son and care costs for his ongoing care.

9. The law says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we consider there is a good reason to do so. We have discussed this with Mrs P to understand the reasons why she did not complain to us sooner. We have also considered the time the Trust took to respond to Mrs P’s complaint.

10. It is clear from Mrs P’s account she has been through a difficult time. We are sorry to hear about what happened and appreciate her experience has had a lasting impact on her and P. Unfortunately, that is not a reason for us to put our time limit to one side.

11. P was born in April 2018. We understand Mrs P was aware of her concerns at that time. Mrs P complained to the Health Service Ombudsman in November 2020. This means Mrs P brought her complaint to us almost two years and seven months after her date of knowledge. Her complaint is around a year and seven months outside of our time limit.

12. Mrs P began the complaints process with a letter about her care to the Trust in September 2019. The Trust responded shortly after and held a meeting with Mrs P in October 2019. The Trust sent a final resolution letter to Mrs P in November 2019. The Trust advised Mrs P of her right to contact the Ombudsman in its letter of November 2019. However, Mrs P did not contact the Ombudsman until November 2020.

13. In her letter of September 2019 Mrs P wrote she was aware of the 12-month time limit for NHS complaints and that she had missed the deadline. However, Mrs P asked for understanding from the Trust as she had been caring for her son during this time. Mrs P has asked for the same understanding from this Office. However, an important matter to note is that during her complaint, Mrs P was able to engage and instruct an advocate to assist her in the complaint.

14. We understand the pandemic has added extra stresses to Mrs P’s life. We have taken this into account along with the explanation she gave about caring for P. We have also taken into account the time the Trust took to investigate the complaint. However, given Mrs P’s understanding of the time limits and her engagement with the advocate, we consider she could have raised her complaint with us sooner. Having considered everything, we cannot agree there are good reasons to put our time limit to one side.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs P’s complaint about Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We have decided the complaint falls outside of our time limit. We have considered all the circumstances of the complaint and the reasons for any delays Mrs P told us about. We have not seen strong reasons to put our time limit to one side.

2. Mrs P told us the Trust provided poor care for her and her son P during pregnancy and that this led to him being born premature, causing developmental challenges. We are sorry to hear about the experience Mrs P had and the challenges P faces. We recognise Mrs P has been through a difficult and distressing time.