University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust

4. Mrs R complains about a delay in the Ambulance Service taking her to hospital on 21 June. As a result, Mrs R says she experienced distress, upset, and prolonged pain. She says this continued at hospital due to the Trust not diagnosing and treating the fractures in her neck until 29 June. Mrs R says she continues to be in pain and has restricted mobility in her neck, which requires ongoing appointments and medication. She says she also has social anxiety.

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 (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mrs 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 into.

7. We consider Mrs R could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us given the claimed failings and the ongoing impact she says she is experiencing. Mrs R says she views what happened to her as ‘human neglect’ and she seeks financial compensation and service improvements.

8. Mrs R has not given an amount of financial compensation she hopes to achieve, however she discussed ongoing costs such as cleaning and gardening, which result from her being unable to do these things herself since her injury.

9. We explained to Mrs R she could approach an appropriate law firm to explore if she has a clinical negligence claim. We explained some law firms do this on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis however some may charge a fee. We explained if she is advised by the law firm that she has no claim, or there are other barriers to her taking legal action, Mrs R should return to us as soon as possible to consider if we can investigate her complaint.

10. Mrs R has not given a reason why she would be unable to explore legal action.

11. Mrs R explained she hopes her complaint will result in service improvements. She says she feels the staff will ‘get away with it’ if she does not complain through us. We have explained that a successful legal claim against an organisation could result in action being taken by it to learn from what happened, however if she remains unsatisfied, she could ask us to consider any unmet outcomes.

12. We will provide Mrs R with information about taking legal action, including advice on how to find an appropriate law firm and what to expect from this process. This information is also available on our website.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs R’s complaint about delays in care and treatment provided by East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (the Ambulance Service) and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (the Trust) from 21 June to 29 June 2021.

2. We have decided not to consider the complaint further. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs R to pursue a legal remedy.

3. We understand the events that caused Mrs R to complain are very important to her. We recognise the impact of the events on Mrs R and her family as a result of the ongoing care and support she says she needs.