13. 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.
14. We have discussed this with Miss T to understand the reasons why she could not bring her complaint to us sooner. We have also considered the time the Trust took to respond to Miss T’s complaint.
15. Miss T confirmed she was aware she needed to complain after reading her medical records in June 2020, which is when she says she became aware of the full extent of her complaint.
16. Miss T brought her complaint to us on 8 August 2021. Therefore, her complaint is two months outside of our 12-month time limit. First, it is important we consider the reasons why and if there were any opportunities for her to have brought her complaint to us sooner.
17. Miss T first complained to the Trust on 7 July 2020, after seeing her medical records in June. On 27 July the Trust sent a written letter and investigation report in response to the complaint. Miss T responded six weeks later. The Trust gave its second response a father six weeks later, on 23 October. There was therefore no delay in responding to the complaints.
18. Ten months later, on 8 August 2021, Miss T complained to us. We asked her the reasons for this gap in pursuing her complaint. This was to understand whether her reasons showed there was no opportunity during this time for her to bring her complaint to us.
19. Miss T explained she was unmedicated for ADHD during this time, which caused an impairment to her organisation skills, time keeping, and ability to form her complaint. Miss T says she lost her daughter to her father due to her mental health in October 2019.
20. Miss T say she has a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) which she says causes her ‘profound impairment brought on by acute stress…’. She says this ‘triggers a flight or fight of bad emotions’ which then affects her mood and ability to carry out tasks. She explained she has a letter from her GP (about an unrelated event), which describes how acute stress makes her unwell.
21. Miss T says she was stripped of the Trust’s interventions since complaining in July 2020, meaning she has experienced a new decline in her mental health and wellbeing. Miss T also said the delay was due to COVID-19 restrictions, as she was unable to visit her parents who help her with everything.
22. We considered what she said and what we have seen from the evidence provided. Based on this we can see, Miss T was able to raise and pursue her complaint with the Trust during the period when she said her mental health declined.
23. This was also during the pandemic, as she complained to the Trust on 7 July and 8 September 2020. The Trust sent its final response October 2020. The pandemic restrictions and the lack of medication and support did not change after this time. Miss T was therefore able to complain to the Trust and could have continued her complaint bringing it to us much sooner. If there had not been a ten month delay in bringing the complaint to us, Miss T’s complaint would not have been outside of our time limit.
24. Miss T has EUPD and ADHD. She says she was unmedicated for her ADHD, which impacted on the speed at which she could have complained. We do not consider it is a good reason to account for the ten month delay between the final response in October 2020 and her complaint to us in August 2021. This also does not appear to have stopped her pursuing her complaint with the Trust. She therefore had the opportunity to bring her complaint to us earlier during this period.
25. We have noted Miss T says since she made her complaint to the Trust, it has stripped her of her support, and this impacted on her ability to complain. This is not part of the complaint we are considering as it has not been raised by Miss T with the Trust. But there are other types of support available for the public to get help with making complaints, such as advocates. The ten month period was a significant time in which Miss T could have sought advice on how to pursue her complaint, but she does not appear to have taken this action.
26. Miss T has not described any significant or different barriers to account for the ten month delay following the Trust’s final response. We appreciate that this complaint is extremely important to Miss T and that this experience continues to cause her concern. But it is difficult for us to justify putting the time limit to one side if she could have come to us sooner. We therefore cannot take further action on this complaint.