Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mr O complains about the Trust’s treatment of his wife, Ms A, during her admission in February 2021. Specifically, that:

· the Trust ruptured Ms A’s artery while removing an ascitic drain on 19 February · the Trust failed to notice that Ms A was bleeding internally for up to 27 hours before transferring her to Hospital B · operating theatres at Hospital A were unstaffed meaning that Ms A had to be transferred to Hospital B to have a coiling procedure carried out. This caused a delay in stopping her internal bleeding.

4. Mr O tells us the failings contributed to Ms A’s premature death in February 2021. Mr O tells us this has caused significant distress to both himself and the wider family.

5. As an outcome, Mr O is seeking systemic improvements to prevent this from happening in the future, an apology, an acknowledgement of failings, and financial compensation.

7. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mr O to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

8. Mr O told us that while his complaint has been awaiting allocation to a caseworker, he has commenced a clinical negligence claim with a no win no fee solicitor’s firm. The solicitors are currently in possession of Ms A’s medical records and are obtaining advice from clinicians regarding the claim.

9. Mr O has confirmed to us that financial compensation is not his primary concern, but it is something he wishes to be considered. As an Ombudsman service, we need to consider whether a court or tribunal could provide a complete remedy for the matter complained about. In this case, it appears that it could. Should the legal claim be successful, and the court were to award financial compensation, then a by-product of this may be that the Trust would reflect on the failings identified and make any required service improvements.

10. As Mr O is currently pursuing a legal claim, we consider it is reasonable to expect him to continue to pursue that legal route.

11. Mr O is welcome to approach us should his solicitors choose not to continue with the claim for any reason, or if his legal claim does not lead to all the remedies he seeks. We have cautioned that if Mr O returned to us then we would have to revisit our time limit.

1. We have carefully considered Mr O’s complaint about Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We consider Mr O has an alternative legal remedy and it is reasonable to expect him to continue the action he has started in pursuing this.

2. We are sorry to hear about the circumstances surrounding Ms A’s death. We understand our decision may not be what Mr O was hoping for.