The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

4. Mrs O complains about the care and treatment her husband, Mr O, got from the Trust between September 2018 and October 2020. She complains:

• Mr O’s endoscopy should have been done sooner • there was no regular monitoring of his condition post-surgery or after he finished chemotherapy • blood tests she had requested were not done • Mr O was not seen until July 2020 for a January 2020 appointment, as the Trust cancelled several appointments without explanation.

5. Mrs O believes that, if not for the Trust’s failings, Mr O could have gotten treatment sooner, which could have stopped his cancer spreading. She feels this would have given him more time with his family, and a better quality of life until he died.

6. By bringing the complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Mrs O wants the Trust to recognise the delay in diagnosis and apologise for its failings.

7. She would also like to see changes made to processes and procedures to make sure this does not happen to others in the future.

8. She also feels compensation of at least £10,000 is needed for how they have been affected.

9. Mr O saw a nurse at his GP Practice in September 2018, as he had been suffering pain in his side for several months. He was not swallowing properly, and food was getting stuck in his throat. He was also losing weight.

10. The nurse could not make a diagnosis and the pain became worse, so he saw an advanced nurse practitioner at the Practice, who referred him for an endoscopy. This was done in January 2019.

11. He also had a CT scan in December 2018 after seeing a doctor. In January 2019 he was told by a consultant that he had cancer of the stomach and oesophagus.

12. In May 2019 he had his stomach and part of his oesophagus removed. There were complications and his spleen was damaged.

13. He suffered ongoing pain in his back and side and went to see the consultant in August 2019. He was told this was post-operative pain.

14. He was given the all clear on 29 October 2019. However, his pain continued, and he mentioned this at an appointment in November 2019. After this, the Trust cancelled five appointments. In July 2020 he had a telephone consultation, again discussing the pain in his back and side, but was only given pain relief. Later, he had an MRI scan. The scan showed no evidence of cancer but showed ‘wear and tear’ along his spine and neck.

15. On 29 October 2020, he was told the cancer had returned and had spread to his lungs and liver. He had chemotherapy, but this did not stop the cancer.

16. Mr O passed away in February 2021.

18. 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 O to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants.

19. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

20. All four of the points Mrs O has brought to us could be pursued by making a claim of clinical negligence.

21. Mrs O believes that the Trust’s failings contributed, at the very least, to Mr O’s life span being shortened and his quality of life being much worse in his final months. She also believes it is possible that his death could have been prevented altogether, if these claimed failings did not happen.

22. Mrs O wants the Trust to recognise the delay in diagnosis and to apologise for its failings. She wants changes to be made to processes and procedures to make sure this does not happen to others. She would also like compensation of at least £10,000. While it may be an amount we can consider, it also means that any potential court costs could likely be covered by a successful clinical negligence claim.

23. The only barrier to taking legal action that Mrs O raised when we discussed this with her is cost. She could use a ‘no-win, no-fee’ solicitor to get around this.

24. As the amount of compensation she is asking for is high and it is not unreasonable for Mrs O to try to achieve this by taking legal action, we recommend this is the most appropriate route for her to take.

25. Some of Mrs O’s outcomes may not be considered by the court, such as process changes, but she can return to us to pursue these once she has finished taking the legal route.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs O’s complaint about Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust).

2. We can see that these events have had a significant impact on Mrs O and her family and we recognise going through the complaints process has been a difficulty and lengthy process.

3. It is our decision that Mrs O could take legal action on the complaint she has brought to us, and so we are unable to progress with her complaint at this time.