Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

4. Ms N complains about care her mother, Mrs A, received the Trust following a cardiac arrest in April. Specifically, she complains: • Mrs A did not receive an angiogram urgently as required • Mrs A was not offered an interpreter • the level of communication surrounding what treatment her mother was receiving was not adequate

5. Ms N says as a result her mother suffered another cardiac arrest and died 10 days later. She says this was due to a blockage in her stent and believes that this could have been avoided if she had an angiogram on time. She says as a result her family have suffered significant emotional distress.

6. Ms N is seeking a financial remedy and service improvements.

8. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Ms N 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.

9. Ms N believes the Trust failed in its duty of care to provide Mrs A with urgent cardiac care following her first cardiac arrest. As a result, she says that Mrs A had a further cardiac arrest, and this caused Mrs A’s death. This caused significant emotional distress to her family. She is looking for a financial remedy in recognition of this, specifically for the delay in receiving treatment (angiogram) which she believes caused the second cardiac arrest. She believes that Mrs A’s death could have been avoided. She noted she is looking for a financial remedy as a result. It therefore seems there may be a legal action open to her.

10. We went on to consider whether it would be reasonable for her to pursue the matter in this way. Ms N did not give a specific amount she is looking for with regards to the impact this had on her mother and for the emotional distress her family have suffered as a result. However, she has said that given the significance of what has happened she is seeking a substantial amount in excess of £10,000.

11. We consider that legal action may be an appropriate means of achieving this as the amounts we tend to recommend are lower than the amounts a court can award. We note she is also looking for service improvements. Whilst these are not directly available through legal action, they are likely to be side-effects of successful legal action.

12. We also raised concerns about the time that has passed since the events. There is often a time limit of three years to bring a claim from the date of knowledge. We explained that as these events happened in April 2019 the date of knowledge has potentially passed. However, we explained that the final decision on this should be made by a solicitor. We said that she should act without delay.

13. As we have not identified any barriers that would prevent Ms N from approaching a solicitor, we consider it is reasonable for her to pursue an alternative legal remedy.

1. We would like to take the opportunity to thank Ms N for approaching us on behalf of her late mother, Mrs A, with her concerns. We appreciate this has been a very difficult experience for her family and share our condolences for their loss.

2. We have carefully considered Ms N’s complaint about Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We consider Ms N could take legal action on the matter that she has brought to us, and we have seen no basis to suggest it is unreasonable for her to do so.

3. To reach this decision we have reviewed the information Ms N has provided and the final response from the Trust.