Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Ms A complains about the care and treatment Mrs N received from the Trust between 10 August 2018 and 12 February 2020. She says the Trust prescribed Mrs N medication without explaining the risks. Ms A also says the Trust did not order a fibroscan (an ultrasound to measure inflammation in the liver) and did not communicate Mrs N’s abnormal test results to the hepatology team.

4. Ms A says the medication the Trust prescribed to Mrs N may have caused Mrs N’s liver failure. Ms A did not know this until she received the results of Mrs N’s post mortem in February 2021. Ms A also says the Trust provided negligent care and this caused Mrs N’s death.

5. Ms A wants compensation of over £10,000 to make her father ‘comfortable for the rest of his life’.

6. The Trust was helping to treat Mrs N for oral lichen planus (an inflammatory condition of the mouth causing ulceration).

7. The Trust prescribed Mrs N methotrexate and prednisolone (immunosuppressants used to treat inflammatory conditions). It also prescribed gliclazide (a medication commonly used to treat diabetes) and losartan (a medication commonly used to treat high blood pressure).

8. Mrs N sadly died in February 2020. On 24 February 2021, after a post mortem, Ms A discovered Mrs N had died of ‘liver failure’.

9. Ms A complained to the Trust on 20 May 2021 and received a final response in November 2022.

11. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has, or had, the option to take legal action unless we think this is, or was, unreasonable. We discussed this with Ms A to understand what she is complaining about, what she claims the impact on her is and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

12. In general terms, clinical negligence takes place when a patient who received a treatment becomes injured as a result of that treatment. Failure to carry out appropriate treatment could also amount to negligence.

13. Ms A clearly refers to ‘negligence’ in her complaint to us and on the telephone she confirmed to us she feels the care Mrs N received was negligent. The Trust prescribed Mrs N a medication Ms A says caused liver failure, resulting in death. Ms A says the Trust breached its duty of care owed to Mrs N. Ms A has a legal option available to her:

· a claim for medical negligence · a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976

14. Ms A complains about delays by the Trust and its failure to monitor Mrs N and carry out appropriate scans and testing. Ms A says Mrs N’s death ‘cannot be an accident’ and she cannot accept the apologies the Trust has given her so far.

15. Ms A wants compensation of at least £10,000 for the Trust’s failure in its duty of care to Mrs N and the distress Ms A went through as a result. A claim for medical negligence may achieve the compensation she is looking for but she would need to discuss this with a medical negligence professional. The main outcome Ms A wants is compensation and the best way to achieve this is through legal action.

16. Ms A is seeking a significant amount of compensation and her complaint centres around the Trust’s failure to carry out prompt treatment and testing, which she believes led to Mrs N’s death. It would therefore be reasonable for her to take legal advice and consider legal action. This is because compensation for negligence is usually a matter for the courts, not us.

17. Ms A did not tell us of any reasons why she could not seek legal advice.

Conclusion

18. Having taken all the circumstances into account, we think it is reasonable for Ms A to explore taking legal action.

19. We understand this might not be the decision Ms A was hoping for and we are sorry for any further distress this may cause. We hope we have clearly explained why we cannot consider Ms A’s complaint any further and why taking legal advice would be the best way forward for her.

1. We have carefully considered Ms A’s complaint about the care her mother, Mrs N, received from Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We were sorry to hear about Mrs N’s sad death, the effects this had on Ms A and the challenges Ms A now faces. We understand Ms A has been through a very difficult and distressing time.

2. We have considered the circumstances of the complaint and what Ms A told us and have decided to take no further action at this time. This is because we think taking a legal route could be the best way forward for Ms A to achieve the outcomes she wants. We are sorry for any additional distress this may cause and hope our explanations below show how we have fully considered her complaint.