London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

2. Mr O complains about the following aspects of care and communication related to his father’s hospital admission at the Trust in January 2021. He says: • The Trust left his father alone to use the commode when he was vulnerable and unable to call for help. Mr O says a member of staff should have waited inside the room or just outside the door. He feels the Trust has not been clear about what happened.

• The Trust decided it would not attempt to resuscitate his father and signed a DNACPR order without telling the family. Mr O says the Trust did not tell him anticipatory medicines had been prescribed either. He is concerned his father could have survived.

3. Mr O feels poor care caused his father’s death and says his family were horrified by the circumstances in which this happened. Mr O says his father was fit and well, so the loss was devastating. He says it has had a financial impact on the family too.

4. Mr O would like the Trust to acknowledge there were failings in his father’s care and pay a financial remedy. He wants it to clarify the circumstances leading to his father’s death.

5. This is a brief background to put our decision into context. Mr O attended the Trust’s Emergency Department in January 2021. The Trust decided to admit Mr O’s father to a ward the following day. The day after, a member of staff found him on the floor not breathing. Sadly, he had passed away. We understand how unexpected this was for Mr O and his family.

6. During the complaints process, in his correspondence with the Trust, Mr O explained he was seeking a financial remedy. The Trust told him he would need to submit a claim which would then be considered by NHS Resolution.

8. 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.

9. When we asked Mr O what outcomes he wants, he told us he wanted the maximum amount possible in compensation. He said he would pursue this through us or independently. When we asked him if there had been anything preventing him from taking or looking into legal action, Mr O explained he had already contact some ‘no win, no fee’ legal firms.

10. Mr O said he was unable to make a legal claim unless it was ‘no win, no fee’. He told us the firms he contacted did not have capacity to take on his case. Mr O said he had approached these firms before receiving a final response from the Trust.

11. We appreciate Mr O expected us to be able to look into his concerns and achieve the outcomes he is seeking. We can only investigate a complaint if it passes our initial tests. This means if legal action is a reasonable option for the complainant, we cannot consider the complaint further.

12. Mr O is seeking a significant amount of compensation and there are time limits for making legal claims. Based on the available information, it appears Mr O could contact another legal firm for advice on taking legal action. This may be in his best interests. We signposted Mr O to information on the Citizens Advice website which he may find helpful.

13. We have seen nothing to suggest it would be unreasonable for him to look into legal action further. We appreciate Mr O is seeking acknowledgement of failings. Legal action can sometimes achieve other outcomes, in addition to compensation, as a by-product of any decision that is made. This is why we are taking no further action on his complaint.

14. If Mr O is unable to pursue legal action or the court does not look at all the outcomes he wants, he may decide to bring his complaint back to us. If that happens, we will need to consider our time limit so it is important he returns to us promptly. We will also check how far he got with the legal process to understand why he has returned to us.

15. We hope this decision statement makes it clear why we have decided not to consider Mr O’s complaint further at this time.

1. We have carefully considered Mr O’s complaint about the Trust. We recognise Mr O has concerns about the care his father received before he died. We understand the bereavement has had a significant impact on their family. We consider Mr O could take legal action on the matter he has brought to us. For this reason, we are not considering his complaint further.