Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

2. Mrs C complains there were delays in Mr C seeing an oncologist between his cancer diagnosis in October 2017 and August 2018. She explains there were delays in Mr C receiving his scan results between April and July 2018, and a further delay in Mr C’s surgery from April to October 2018.

3. Mrs C says the delays in receiving the scan results may have contributed to Mr C’s poor prognosis. She explains the delays, chasing results, and dealing with his illness caused Mr C and his family stress and anxiety, leading to mental health problems affecting both her and her daughter. She says following surgery, Mr C’s mobility was affected, meaning he was unable to work and provide for his family. This affected both Mr and Mrs C emotionally and financially. She tells us Mr C suffered terrible pain throughout his illness, leading him to have low moods and depression.

4. Mrs C and the family would like to know what measures have been taken to prevent delays happening to others, as she does not want this to happen to anyone else. The family would like to know that the answers provided by the Trust are a true reflection of what happened in Mr C’s treatment, and for it to admit it made mistakes. She would like to be financially compensated, as Mr C was unable to work to provide for his family or ensure she was financially stable.

6. 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.

7. Mr C had a scan in April 2018 which showed an abnormality in the lymph near where his kidney had been removed. He saw an oncologist in August 2018 and had another scan in September 2018. Mr C then had surgery in October 2018. He underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy in December 2018. Mr C complained to the Trust in February 2019. It provided its response in March 2019. Mrs C then raised further concerns with the Trust 17 months later in August 2020. The family sought advice from a solicitor in September 2020, and the Trust provided its further response in November 2020. Mrs C approached us with her complaint in January 2021. This complaint is therefore out of time.

8. We therefore considered whether there was a good reason why Mrs C could not have complained sooner. Mrs C explained that following Mr C’s second surgery in October 2018, the focus was, understandably, on getting him through his treatments and managing his pain. She said the family were focused on caring for Mr C during this distressing time. Mrs C’s daughter explained they did not formally complain to the Trust at the time when Mr C was ill because they were too busy looking after Mr C. She said it was a very stressful time for all, and her dad felt he would be treated differently if they complained. Mrs C explained that after Mr C sadly died in February 2020, she was physically ill and experienced problems with her mental health, as did her daughter. She said complaining at this time would have put more stress on the family, so they waited until they could think more clearly. However, Mrs C’s daughter explained she had felt the need to contact a solicitor in September 2020. The solicitor informed her they could not take the case on.

9. We consider Mrs C could have complained to us much sooner than she did. We fully appreciate Mrs C may not have been well enough to approach us straightaway in March 2019, when the Trust responded to Mr C’s complaint. However, there were opportunities for her to have approached us sooner, rather than waiting almost two more years. Mrs C’s daughter was able to contact a solicitor in September 2020 and could have also approached us at this time. Therefore, we consider Mrs C’s complaint about the delays in her husband’s treatment between April 2018 and February 2019 to be out of time.

10. Due to the time limits described above we will not be looking into Mrs C’s complaint further. We do not underestimate the impact the issues Mrs C has raised have had on her and her family. We hope we have explained our decision clearly.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs C’s complaint about Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We recognise Mrs C’s distress during the time of her husband’s illness. However, we have decided the complaint falls outside of our time limit. We are very sorry to hear of Mrs C’s concerns.