Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Ms O complains about the care and treatment she received from the Trust on 10 May 2019 when she underwent a lumbar puncture for suspected meningitis. She says: · the Trust allowed untrained staff to perform a medical procedure incorrectly · the Trust failed to document the medical procedure correctly.

4. Ms O says as a result she is in constant pain. She says she can no longer work and has been forced to give up her career.

5. By bringing her complaint to us, she seeks financial remedy, acknowledgment of the failings, and an apology.

6. We have considered the following information when coming to our decision on this complaint:

· Ms O’s complaint form from 1 June 2021 · the Trust’s final response letter, dated 20 July 2021 · a telephone conversation with Ms O on 23 March 2022.

7. 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 Ms O to understand the reasons why she could not bring her complaint to us sooner. We have also considered the time the Trust has taken to respond to Ms O.

8. Ms O told us she was aware the lumbar puncture had not been carried out correctly during the procedure on 10 May 2019. She said she was in so much pain she had to ask for the procedure to be stopped. Ms O complained to the Trust on 18 April 2021, which was 23 months after her failed lumbar puncture. The Trust sent a final response on 1 June 2021. In total, local resolution took almost two months.

9. There is a significant period between when the event occurred and Ms O raising a complaint with the Trust, and although Ms O said she was waiting to see if her condition may have improved, she has not told us of anything which prevented her from complaining for 23 months.

10. Ms O complained to us on 1 June 2021, 24 months after the failed lumbar puncture procedure. She explained the reason for her delay was due to believing that the symptoms and pain may subside over time. She said she tried different treatments but they unfortunately all remained unsuccessful.

11. In the Trust’s response, dated 21 May 2021, it included information about our service. That information contained details about our time limit: ‘There are time limits for taking a complaint to the Ombudsman, although these can be waived if there is good reason’. We are satisfied the Trust made Ms O aware of our service and the time limits for making a complaint, during local resolution.

12. We are also satisfied Ms O was aware of the event she complains about in May 2019 and have seen no reason she could not have complained to us and the Trust, much sooner than she did. This would have meant she could have approached us within the one-year time limit.

13. Having considered Ms O’s reasons for the delay, and the time taken for local resolution to be completed, we have seen no good reason to set our time limit aside in this case as there was a significant period where Ms O was able to bring her complaint to us but did not

1. We have carefully considered Ms O’s complaint about Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We have decided the complaint falls outside of our time limit.

2. Ms O told us she experienced a failed medical procedure which has left her in severe, permanent pain. We were sorry to hear about the experience Ms O had. We recognise she has been through a difficult and distressing time and continues to suffer pain.