The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

4. Mrs I complains about the care her father, Mr I, received from the Trust after he was admitted to hospital on 26 December. She says Trust staff did not correctly follow the cross-infection guidelines which meant her father caught COVID-19 from another patient.

5. Mrs I explains her father sadly died from COVID-19 on 12 January. She feels her father’s death could have been avoided if he had not been exposed to COVID-19 in hospital. Further, Mrs I says her family have suffered significant distress and have struggled to come to terms with her father’s death.

6. Mrs I is seeking financial compensation as an outcome of the complaint.

7. Mr I was in his eighties at the time of his treatment. He was admitted to the Trust on 26 December. Mr I tested negative for COVID-19 on arrival at hospital. He tested positive for COVID-19 on 31 December and sadly died on 12 January.

10. 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 Mrs I 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 into.

11. Mrs I says her father caught COVID-19 in hospital. He tested positive on 31 December and sadly died on 12 January. Mrs I feels her father’s death could have been prevented, had the Trust correctly followed the COVID-19 cross-infection guidelines and not exposed him to a COVID-19 positive patient in the adjacent bed.

12. As outlined above, Mrs I is claiming her father died from COVID-19 because the Trust failed to act in line with the cross-infection guidelines. This indicates she could potentially pursue her complaint on the grounds of clinical negligence. In line with our law, we next considered if it is reasonable for her to do this.

13. On her complaint form, Mrs I said she would be willing to take legal action on her case ‘depending on the response’ she receives from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. During our discussion of 25 April, she told us the only outcome she wanted is financial compensation. This outcome could potentially be achieved via a legal process.

14. We appreciate the death of Mrs I’s father would have been extremely distressing for her and her family. Mrs I told us she wanted ‘a fair judgement’ and compensation to recognise her father’s death and the trauma she has experienced. She confirmed she has not yet approached a solicitor and there are no barriers or significant reasons which would prevent her from doing so. We note Mrs I’s complaint is within the three-year time limit for raising a legal claim.

15. In line with our law, as Mrs I is seeking an outcome which could potentially be considered by a legal process, we consider it is appropriate for her to explore this route. Mrs I does not have any barriers in place which would prevent her from seeking legal action. Therefore, we consider it reasonable for her to do so and we have decided to take no further action on this complaint.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs I’s complaint about The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (the Trust). We are very sorry to hear Mrs I feels the Trust did not follow its cross-infection guidelines correctly and this meant her father caught COVID-19 and died on 12 January.

2. Mrs I told us her family have struggled to come to terms with her father’s death and this has had a devasting long lasting impact for them. We do not wish to underestimate how distressing these events have been or the considerable time and effort it has taken to bring these concerns to our attention.

3. We consider Mrs I could potentially take legal action on the matter she has brought to us. For this reason, we have decided not to consider her complaint further. We will explain the full reasons for this below.