Miss I complains about aspects of the care and treatment Mr E got from the Trust between August and September 2021. Miss I says Trust staff used excessive force and pinned Mr E down after he asked to go for a cigarette.
5. Miss I also says Mr E experienced abuse and neglect, leaving his body physically bruised.
6. Miss I would like the Trust to accept it got something wrong, an apology and £50,000 financial compensation.
This very brief background only aims to give the context for the key event in this complaint, not a full, chronological account of what happened.
8. Mr E was in hospital overnight between 31 August and 1 September 2021. In the evening he tried to leave his ward to go for a cigarette. Trust staff say he was unsteady on his feet, bumping into doors and other items. Mr E was escorted back to his bed. It was later noticed there was bruising on his body.
10. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint if a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable. We discussed this with Miss I to understand her position and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but if it would be a reasonable option to look into.
11. Miss I has alternative legal routes available to her for a clinical negligence claim, as the main outcome she wants is financial compensation. Miss I has told us she wants £50,000, a significant amount. This could be sought through the courts.
12. Miss I alleges Trust staff used excessive force and pinned down Mr E after he asked to go for a cigarette. Miss I states this amounted to physical abuse and neglect towards Mr E. She says there was a similar situation in February 2020 for which the Trust apologised. She is now taking legal action and wants financial compensation because it happened again.
13. Miss I has approached a firm of solicitors to pursue legal action. It has advised Miss I her case is under review. We would expect Miss I to exhaust this process and possibly speak to other solicitors before considering the complaint further.
14. We have explained to Miss I if she cannot pursue her legal claim through solicitors, or she takes legal action and does not get all the outcomes she wants, she can come back to us and we can reconsider the circumstances. There is no guarantee of what we will do if Miss I brings her complaint back to us. We will need to consider the outcome of any legal action and how much time has elapsed.
15. As Miss I is already liaising with solicitors, we feel it is reasonable for her to continue to pursue that option. The courts can independently review her concerns and decide whether there was any clinical negligence, as she believes there was. It is possible legal action could resolve, or at least partly resolve, Miss I’s complaint.
1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Miss I’s complaint about Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust).
2. We understand the events Miss I complains about are very important to her. We recognise the impact these events had on her and her late partner, Mr E. We appreciate this was a very difficult experience for them both.
3. We consider Miss I could take legal action on this matter and she says she is already exploring that option. We will explain more about the reasons for our decision below.