3. Mr I complains about the care and treatment he received from the Trust between 2006 and 2020. He complains doctors at the Trust failed to correctly diagnose and treat a skin condition for 15 years. This caused him immense, prolonged suffering throughout this time.
4. Mr I is asking for an apology from the Trust and wants financial compensation.
5. Mr I was referred to the Trust in March 2006 due a skin condition. In June 2020, he was diagnosed with schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection, at a different Trust.
6. Mr I complained to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in February 2021. The Trust gave its final response in April 2021. Mr I complained to us in October 2021.
8. The law says a person needs to complain to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we consider there is a good reason to do so.
9. Mr I was aware he had reason to complain to the Trust on 2 June 2020. For his complaint to be within the time limit, he should have complained to us by 2 June 2021, but he did not bring his complaint to us until October 2021. So, his complaint is four months outside our 12-month time limit.
10. We have discussed this with Mr I to understand the reasons why he did not bring his complaint to us sooner. We have also considered the time the organisation took to respond to Mr I.
11. There are eight months between June 2020, when Mr I became aware he had reason to complain, and February 2021 when he first complained to the Trust. Mr I says he did not want to complain to the Trust while waiting for a consultation with one of the doctors responsible for the missed diagnosis. He did not want a face-to-face confrontation with one of the doctors he was complaining about.
12. While we understand Mr I may have felt uncomfortable complaining about the Trust when still under its care, there are time limits for making a complaint. The NHS complaint standards are clear that making a complaint will not affect ongoing care and treatment. Unfortunately, Mr I’s decision to wait means his complaint is now outside our time limit.
13. There was a five-month period between April 2021, when Mr I received a final response from the Trust, and September 2021, when he first contacted us. Mr I says he did not realise we are a separate complaint organisation to the Trust. He now reaIises we are independent.
14. The Trust sent its final response on 19 April 2021 and told Mr I he could contact us. So, he was aware of us in April 2021 and could have contacted us for more information at that time. The reason Mr I gives does not appear to be a barrier to making a complaint to us within our time limit. Mr I was clearly able to complain, having done so to the Trust, and was given the information he needed about us to ask questions about what to do next. Had Mr I done this, he could have made his complaint to us in time.
15. On reviewing the documentation provided with the complaint, Mr I complained to the Trust on 3 February 2021 and the Trust gave its final response on 19 April 2021. This is a period of approximately two months. There was no delay by the Trust here as it responded in a timely manner to the complaint. We do not consider the time taken for the Trust’s complaint handling as a reason to extend our time limit.
16. We have carefully considered Mr I’s reasons for not approaching the Trust or us sooner. Although Mr I has given reasons for his delay, we cannot see a strong enough reason to enable us to extend our time limit. He could have approached the Trust and us within the 12-month time Imit. He chose to take different action which means he missed opportunities to complain in time. It is difficult to justify extending the time limit when there were missed opportunities to bring the complaint to us sooner.
17. Having taken all the circumstances into account, we consider this complaint falls outside the 12-month time limit and we cannot extend the time limit for this complaint.
18. We understand Mr I’s experience has caused him great distress and are sorry for this, but it is important we consider and act within the law. We hope this statement clearly explains our decision not to consider the complaint further.
1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Mr I’s complaint about Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear about Mr I’s experience and the distress it has caused him. We recognise he has been through a difficult time.
2. Based on the evidence we have seen, Mr I’s complaint falls outside our 12-month time limit. We have considered the circumstances of his complaint and have decided there is not a strong enough reason for us to extend our time limit to consider it further. We are sorry for any additional distress this may cause, but we hope our explanations below show how we have come to this decision.