North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

4. Mrs U complains about Mr U’s medical treatment while he was a patient in the Trust’s infirmary between 14 and 28 January 2021. She also complains about the personal care he was given and communication between hospital staff and herself.

5. Mrs U says Mr U experienced unnecessary pain and suffering and died sooner than he otherwise would have. She says she has found it dreadfully upsetting to think that he was denied basic care and not kept clean. She is also concerned the lack of personal care could have caused sepsis. In addition, Mrs U says she suffers from anxiety as a result of not being told how ill Mr U was. She feels that better communication would have helped her and her family to come to terms with Mr U’s condition.

6. Mrs U would like an apology and improvements in services, including communication with relatives.

7. In January 2021 Mr U was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. On 14 January 2021 he was admitted to the infirmary where he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. Between 24 and 26 January he was cared for in intensive care. On 28 January Mr U sadly died.

8. Mrs U complained to the Trust on 8 March 2021. The Trust responded the next month. The Trust contacted Mrs U on 17 June to discuss her concerns more and to offer a meeting. On 21 June the Trust wrote to Mrs U to reply to further points raised and repeat its offer to meet her. The Trust sent its final complaint response in July 2021.

11. 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 there is good reason to

12. Mrs U told us she knew there was a problem when Mr U died. For Mrs U to bring her complaint to us within the time limit, she would have needed to contact us by January 2022. Mrs U complained to us in April 2022. Her complaint was made three months outside of our time limit.

13. We have discussed this with Mrs U to understand why she did not complain to us sooner. We have considered the reasons she gave us.

14. Mrs U complained to the Trust around five to six weeks after Mr U’s death. We do not consider there is any delay here as Mrs U had experienced a bereavement but managed to complain to the Trust within a matter of weeks. We realise this would have been a very difficult time for her.

15. There is a significant gap of approximately nine months between Mrs U getting the Trust’s final response in July 2021, and coming to us in April 2022. Mrs U gave several reasons for why she did not complain to us sooner.

16. Firstly, Mrs U says she contacted a solicitor to make a claim through the courts. Mrs U told us she first took legal advice in February 2021. Correspondence Mrs U sent us shows her solicitor contacted her in April 2022 to say they would not be pursuing her claim and she was able to complain to us if she wished. The solicitor thought the costs of going to court were likely to be more than any compensation she may get, and it would be difficult to establish causation (whether the Trust caused harm).

17. It was open to Mrs U to choose to pursue her complaint through a legal process. However, we would not generally accept taking legal action as grounds for putting our time limit to one side. The fact that Mrs U could do this suggests she could have complained to us sooner than she did.

18. Secondly, Mrs U told us she had depression after Mr U’s death. We recognise the loss she experienced and the impact it had on her mental health. We note that Mrs U was able to engage with the Trust’s complaints process between March and July 2021. She also engaged with a solicitor to pursue her legal claim from February 2021. As Mrs U was able to do this despite her depression, we cannot consider it prevented her from complaining to us sooner.

19. In addition, Mrs U says she became depressed at the news her and we are sorry to hear how it affected her mental health. Mrs U got this news in April 2022. This was the same month she complained to us. So, it does not explain why Mrs U did not complain to us sooner than she did.

20. Thirdly, Mrs U says she did not know she could contact us, before her solicitor advised her to do. The Trust’s response of July 2021 directed Mrs U to our service. So, Mrs U had received information about what she could next if she remained unhappy. We note that information about how to pursue an NHS complaint is also available online, and from organisations such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and advocacy services.

21. Finally, Mrs U added that she had been caring for her mother who has dementia. Mrs U had been caring for her before Mr U became ill in January 2021, and until she was admitted to hospital in May 2022. While we recognise the impact this had on her life, Mrs I was able to engage with the Trust’s complaints process and with a solicitor while giving care. This suggests she would also have been able to complain to us sooner.

22. Mrs U also says she had to find a care home for her mother after her hospital admission in May 2022. We appreciate this would have taken time. Mrs U had already complained to us by that time. We cannot put our time limit to one side for that reason.

Summary

23. We want to be clear that this decision not to investigate the complaint, does not mean we are making a decision on what happened in January 2021. It is clear this was an extremely difficult experience for Mrs U which has had a lasting impact on her.

24. In summary, having considered Mrs U’s reasons for the delay in complaining to us, we have not seen enough evidence to set our time limit aside. There is a lengthy gap when Mrs U could have complained to us and did not. Had Mrs U complained to us soon after getting the Trust’s final response in July 2021, her complaint would have reached us within our time limit.

25. For these reasons we will not be considering this complaint further. It is important we act within the law, and we regret any further upset this decision may cause. We thank Mrs U for bringing her complaint to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs U’s complaint about the care North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) gave to her husband, Mr U. We realise how important this complaint is and recognise it has been a very difficult time for Mrs U and her family. We are sorry to hear about the death of Mr U and the ongoing emotional impact this has had.

2. We have decided that Mrs U’s complaint falls outside of our time limit. Unfortunately, we have not seen good enough reasons to put this time limit to one side. We will explain the reasons for our decision in detail below.

3. We understand that our decision will be of great disappointment to Mrs U. We are deeply sorry that we cannot help further.