University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

3. Mrs R complains about the care and treatment she received from the Trust from 3 September to 12 September 2018. She was under the care of the Trust after falling and fracturing her patella (knee cap) in a number of places. She says the Trust:

· did not allow the cell injury in her knee to heal before commencing the surgery to repair her bone fractures. A cell injury is a variety of changes of stress that a cell suffers due to external as well as internal environmental changes, such as physical impact or chemical or infection changes in the body · on 5 and 6 September the nursing and physiotherapy staff failed to respond to her reports of strange smells and discoloured discharge from her wound, indicating an infection. She is concerned she was discharged without any antibiotics · incorrectly placed her on a stroke ward between 12 and 18 September.

4. Mrs R believes the actions of the Trust hindered her recovery from the initial injury she sustained in the fall. She now has a permanent disability and limited movement in her leg. She also regularly suffers pain in this area. She says there is a likelihood of her developing arthritis as a result of this.

5. Due to the initial incident and the long term impact this had on her health, Mrs R also explains this has caused her mental trauma for which she requires counselling and ongoing support.

6. She says, as a result, she had to take time off work, and returned on a part time basis for 13 months. This caused her to suffer a loss of earnings. She also incurred the costs of private treatment and travel to hospital appointments.

7. She explains that she had to make big adjustments to her life including, but not limited to, changing to an automatic car, needing a disabled parking permit, not being able to take part in physical activities and struggling to perform everyday tasks.

8. She says this means she relies heavily on the assistance of her family which has a time and financial impact on them.

9. In bringing her complaint to the Ombudsman, Mrs R wants the Trust to acknowledge its failures with honesty and integrity and to apologise for them. She would like the Trust to learn from this incident and make changes to its operative procedures to prevent this from happening again.

10. She also wants the Trust to provide financial compensation for the long term health impacts she has, and will continue to suffer.

11. Mrs R attended the Trust on 2 September. She had sustained an injury to her knee after falling whilst running. She was informed she had fractured her patella in two places and needed routine surgery to fix this.

12. The Trust performed the surgery on 3 September. She reported signs of infection, but it discharged her on 6 September.

13. She was readmitted on 8 September and the Trust performed a debridement surgery, which is a procedure to wash the wound out, on 12 September. It then placed Mrs R on a stroke ward to recover.

14. After expressing her concern about being on the incorrect ward, Mrs R was moved to an orthopaedic ward. She needed a blood transfusion due to her low red blood cell count. She also developed a rash on her feet and right leg and was diagnosed with a PE (pulmonary embolism – a blood clot in the lung).

15. Mrs R commenced her outpatient care and physiotherapy from 17 October to summer 2020. She continues her rehabilitation under the care of another provider.

16. Our organisation can consider complaints about organisations working on behalf of the NHS and whether organisations are responsible for failings. However, the law says we cannot investigate a complaint if there is a legal remedy available and it is reasonable for someone to pursue it. As it stands, we see no reason why Mrs R cannot explore legal action and we consider this would be suitable action for her to take.

17. The claimed failings Mrs R raised are regarding the actions of the Trust in performing her original surgery, not reacting to her signs of infection and not placing her on a suitable ward. This falls under the scope of clinical negligence (clinical mistake). Clinical negligence is a subject matter that complainants can take to court.

18. Mrs R is seeking financial compensation as one of the outcomes of her complaint. Upon consideration of Mrs R’s complaint and the impact it has had on her, it is likely the amount she seeks may be beyond the amounts we usually recommend if we uphold a complaint. However, a solicitor could possibly achieve this outcome if they decide to take on her case. Therefore, we believe that this is the best option for Mrs R.

19. Mrs R is also seeking an apology from the Trust and for it to make service improvements. It is likely that Mrs R could also achieve these outcomes as a consequence of pursuing legal action.

20. We recognise Mrs R sought legal advice in February 2020. The legal firm she made enquiries with was not willing to take on her claim. However, we know other firms may be able to pursue Mrs R’s claim. We therefore consider Mrs R should explore alternative options.

21. We also appreciate it has been over three years since Mrs R’s initial surgery. We have considered Mrs R’s access to legal action at this time, after the usual legal deadline has passed. We are aware there are exceptions and legal procedures to allow someone to make a claim after the three year deadline. We therefore believe Mrs R should explore these options through legal advice.

22. In summary, an alternative legal remedy is available to Mrs R in respect of her complaint about the Trust, and this is something she should explore. Therefore, we will not be taking any further action on it at this time. We thank Mrs R for taking the time to talk us through her complaint.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs R’s complaint about University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (the Trust). However, we consider Mrs R could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us.

2. We were sorry to hear about Mrs R’s concerns and the distress she experienced when attending the Trust with her knee injury and her subsequent infection and long recovery. We appreciate this continues to be a frustrating time for Mrs R and her family. We have considered the complaint in detail and are content that there is an alternative legal remedy, in the form of pursing a claim, available to Mrs R. We believe it is reasonable for Mrs R to pursue this in the circumstances. Therefore, Mrs R should explore this option further.