University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

3. Mrs O complains about the Trust’s care between July 2021 and April 2022. Her daughter was under the care of the Trust for issues with her tonsils and adenoids, after she had tonsilitis in 2021. Mrs O complains the Trust did not discuss surgical options to correct these issues. Mrs O says the family had to get surgery privately.

4. Mrs O says because of the Trust’s actions her daughter experienced months of avoidable pain and suffering. She wants financial compensation to cover the cost of the private surgery.

5. Between July 2021 and January 2022, Mrs O’s five-year-old daughter was under the care of her GP. She was experiencing ongoing issues with sleep loss and apnoea. Sleep apnoea is a condition that disrupts the breathing pattern during sleep. It can cause the person to stop breathing for periods of time.

6. During this time, the family privately funded hearing tests which diagnosed her daughter with glue ear - a condition where the middle canal fills up with fluid.

7. In January 2022, Mrs O’s daughter’s sleep apnoea became more consistent. She contacted the GP who advised Mrs O they would complete an urgent referral to the paediatrics department before transferring her to the ENT (ear, nose and throat) clinic. The GP saw the swelling of the tonsils and discussed removing them. The GP and Mrs O also discussed the treatment for adenoids including grommets.

8. In January 2022, Mrs O’s daughter had tonsilitis again and the Trust did a hearing test. The Trust told Mrs O it suspected the hearing loss was because of the fluid in her ear.

9. In February 2022, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at the Trust helped the family in getting an appointment with the ENT clinic for 1 April 2022.

10. During this appointment Mrs O’s daughter had another hearing test. When the family saw a consultant at the Trust, they said the results were inconclusive and referred her for another hearing test. The consultant at the Trust examined Mrs O’s daughter’s ears and throat and concluded there were medical issues with her adenoids. Mrs O was given steroid nasal drops for her daughter.

11. On 17 June 2022, Mrs O’s daughter had her tonsils and adenoids removed and grommets fitted. The operation was paid for privately by the family.

14. Mrs O says she was disappointed with the Trust and did not want to see her daughter in any more pain. Mrs O also says the Trust was not listening to her when her daughter caught tonsilitis. Mrs O says the tonsilitis caused medical issues with her daughter’s adenoids which led to sleep apnoea.

15. Mrs O says as a family they made the decision to go for private medical treatment.

16. Mrs O tells us she would like financial compensation for the private treatment she paid for (£3,500) and for the anxiety and upset that has been caused by her experiences with the Trust.

17. We are sorry to hear about their experience. We are pleased to hear from Mrs O that her daughter’s condition is now greatly improved.

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

19. Mrs O told us she had not considered legal action as all the facts were not clear. She was concerned legal action would cost too much. We note most clinical negligence claims are funded by ‘no win no fee’ arrangements, so there do not currently seem to be any barriers to the funding of such a claim. We consider Mrs O can discuss the funding options available with a solicitor. Mrs O tells us she will seek legal advice to see whether she is able to make a legal claim against the Trust.

20. We consider the amount of financial compensation she could achieve would likely be more than any legal cost. We can see Mrs O is clear in her expectations about the issues complained about and has a specific outcome in mind. From speaking to her, we have not seen anything to suggest the case would be too complex for Mrs O to make her claim.

21. In our discussion, Mrs O agreed to seek legal advice which suggests there were no other barriers to her pursuing legal action. Mrs O has not informed us of any physical or mental health issues that would make this action difficult for her.

22. We do not achieve financial outcomes in the same way the courts do, and we consider legal action would be the best route for Mrs O to achieve her desired outcome. She is not looking for any outcomes that a court would be unable to look at, so we consider she can achieve all of her outcomes through legal action.

23. As Mrs O will be taking legal action, we cannot investigate the complaint. If Mrs O is unable to take legal action, she can ask us to look at the complaint again. Mrs O should come back to us quickly if legal action is unsuccessful as we have a time limit for accepting complaints. We cannot accept a complaint if it comes to us more than 12 months from the date a person is aware of a problem.

24. As Mrs O has confirmed she will be pursuing legal action, we will not consider this complaint further at this time. We thank Mrs O for bringing her complaint to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs O’s complaint about University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (the Trust). We consider Mrs O could take legal action to pursue her complaint and we have not seen anything to suggest it is unreasonable for her to do this.

2. We are sorry to hear about what happened to Mrs O’s daughter and the significant impact this had on them both.