London Ambulance Service NHS Trust

2. Ms R complains about the service the Trust provided to her late father, Mr R, on 7 April 2020. Ms R says the staff that attended to Mr R failed to recognise he was critically ill. This then caused a significant delay in Mr R being taken to hospital. She believes this denied him the opportunity to recover. Ms R also told us the Trust’s complaint responses have been delayed and did not include sufficient detail to explain what happened.

3. Ms R says the Trust’s actions and unnecessary delays denied her father timely access to treatment, and a chance for recovery. She also says the events caused severe distress to the whole family, particularly those who witnessed them. Ms R incurred additional distress having to chase the Trust for complaint responses.

4. Ms R seeks an investigation of the events, a financial remedy, an apology, and service improvements.

6. 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 unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Ms R to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to. Based on the information we have seen, and considering the outcomes Ms R is seeking, we consider it would be reasonable for her to contact a solicitor to initiate a medical negligence claim.

7. Ms R can also contact her local Citizens Advice Bureau or AVMA (Action Against Medical Accidents) to get further advice and support around the legal process. We have made her aware that she can return to us if she is unable to pursue a medical negligence claim. She can also return if any legal action does not achieve all the outcomes she is seeking, as long as this is done promptly due to our time limit consideration. We would also need to understand the reasons why a court claim would be unreasonable for her to pursue.

1. We have carefully considered Ms R’s complaint about the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (the Trust). After reviewing the details of the complaint, we consider Ms R could take legal action.