St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

2. Miss B complains about aspects of the Trust’s service when her mother, Mrs P, was in hospital from 11 December 2020. She complains the Trust:

• should not have kept Mrs P in hospital or tried to arrange rehabilitation and should have sent her home instead - she caught COVID-19 because she was kept in hospital • did not give Mrs P a COVID-19 vaccination, which made the infection more likely • did not allow Mrs P’s family to visit her, even though she had dementia and needed additional support, meaning she missed out on a chance to have her family involved in her care and, as a result, her health got worse • did not meet Mrs P’s basic care needs because it did not support her skin integrity (skin health) or give her sufficient fluids and nutrition, which further contributed to her decline in health, and • did not tell the family about problems with Mrs P’s care or that she was deteriorating, which caused distress and worry, and meant the family missed a chance to say goodbye.

3. Miss B says her mother’s death could have been prevented. She says the Trust caused her distress, worry and guilt, and the family are still troubled by what happened. She regrets not taking her mother out of hospital and feels betrayed by the Trust.

4. Miss B wants the Trust to accept its mistakes, apologise for their impact and make improvements to its service. She also wants financial compensation in recognition of what happened.

7. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint if a person has the option to take legal action. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it is a reasonable option to pursue. We have discussed this with Miss B to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants.

8. Miss B believes the Trust’s poor care led to her mother’s decline in health and her death. So, she could take legal action in the form of a clinical negligence claim (when a patient takes their medical practitioner and/or hospital to court for compensation).

9. Miss B wants the Trust to pay financial compensation but is unsure of the amount. She tells us she is confident the Trust should have to pay something because it was deliberately negligent and her mother should not have died.

10. While we can recommend financial compensation, it can also be achieved by taking legal action and the courts can get different sums to us. The other outcomes Miss B wants could be a by-product of legal action, if she is successful.

11. We have discussed with Miss B whether there are any barriers to her pursuing legal action and she has not given any.

12. Miss B says she would be willing to pursue legal action as she is motivated to get justice for her late mother. She says she has complained to us as she and her family thought they needed to follow our complaints process first. She has not given any signs legal action would be difficult for her to pursue or that she does not have the means to do so.

13. Based on what we have considered, we think it would be reasonable for Miss B to pursue legal action at this time. It would be in her best interests to get some advice, for example, from a solicitor, to see whether someone would take her case on.

14. We understand this matter is important to Miss B and we appreciate her taking the time to give us the information we need to reach our decision. We hope we have clearly explained the reasons for this.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Miss B’s complaint about St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We have decided not to take any further action as we consider it is reasonable for Miss B to take legal action. We are sorry to hear about Miss B’s concerns and thank her for taking the time to raise them.