East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

3. Miss X complains the Trust left her unattended while she was bleeding extremely heavily for a prolonged period and did not treat her with due care and urgency in April 2021.

4. As a result, Miss X says:

• she fell after passing out and needed two blood transfusions due to her blood loss • the experience has left her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), meaning she is unable to live a normal life and needs therapeutic interventions • the Trust’s final response caused her further distress for which she needed additional therapy.

5. Miss X wants significant financial compensation as an outcome of her complaint.

6. Miss X tells us she had a large loop excision of the transformation zone procedure (a treatment used to remove an abnormal area of the cervix) on 13 April 2021.

7. Miss X says she started to bleed heavily on 23 April. An ambulance took her to the emergency department (ED) and the Trust admitted her to hospital due to her heavy vaginal bleeding. She says the Trust gave her medication to treat the heavy bleeding. The Trust then transferred her to the gynaecology ward as the medication did not work. As there was no space on the ward, the Trust put her in a treatment room.

8. Miss X says a doctor reviewed her and said her bleeding was too heavy for them to see the cause. She says she was left with no call bell.

9. Miss X tells us she still suffers from severe bleeding and loosing clots. She had severe abdominal pain and felt faint. She was also anxious as she felt she had been forgotten. She says she called out for help and was given a change of pads and oral paracetamol.

10. Miss X says a different doctor came to see her, asked for a urine sample and brought a commode. She was left alone and got on the commode, but she fainted and was unconscious. She awoke to a nurse taking observations and administering fluid intravenously.

11. Miss X says the Trust took her to surgery and gave her two blood transfusions due to the loss of blood. She says she awoke to hear the staff discussing how it was lucky she had not died.

12. The Trust discharged Miss X on 25 April.

13. Miss X says she started to bleed again on 5 May, and the Trust told her this was a period. She says as she was still bleeding on 15 May, she called the ward and was told she could come to the hospital but it was ‘probably nothing’.

14. Miss X tells us she attended a different trust’s ED on 15 May. A doctor saw her, said she had a damaged blood vessel and catharised it. Miss X says this stopped the bleeding.

16. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (section 4) says we cannot investigate a complaint if the complainant has a route to take legal action, unless we consider it is not reasonable for them to do so. This makes sure we do not interfere with matters that fall under the remit of the courts.

17. Miss X complains the care and treatment she received from the Trust fell below the expected standard as she was left unattended while bleeding extremely heavily for a prolonged period on 23 April 2021. Miss X says as the Trust did not treat her with due care and urgency, the experience has left her with PTSD. She tells us she is now unable to live a normal life and needs to seek therapeutic interventions.

18. Miss X says the months following the event were extremely difficult for her and her family. She tells us her mental health deteriorated, which caused her relationship to break down, and she disconnected with her children. We are sorry to hear how much this has affected her.

19. Miss X has a legal course of action. She can pursue a clinical negligence claim against the Trust as she is claiming her care and treatment fell below the expected standard, in particular through not receiving the correct treatment for her blood loss, which caused her to need two blood transfusions and resulted in PTSD.

20. There is a clear legal route Miss X could follow to achieve her sole desired outcome of financial compensation. We next consider whether it is reasonable for her to pursue this.

21. Miss X wants financial compensation. A clinical negligence claim is not the only way to achieve this outcome, as we might consider recommending financial compensation if we upheld her complaint.

22. Miss X tells us she wants financial compensation of £15,000 for the trauma she has experienced because of her treatment, the PTSD she now suffers, which she says prevents her from living a normal life, and the distress and upset caused. It seems Miss X wants a significant sum. This outcome can be sought through the courts.

23. Miss X says she has asked a solicitor for advice and was in the process of approaching a second solicitor, but wanted to see what we would decide first. She says there are no personal barriers preventing her from taking legal action and has shown this by already asking for legal advice.

24. In summary, there is a legal route Miss X could pursue to achieve the primary outcome she wants. Miss X is looking for financial compensation for the life-changing impact of the events that have taken place and the effect this will have on her future.

25. The courts are best placed to achieve this, and we can see no obvious barriers which might prevent Miss X from pursuing this.

26. We consider it is reasonable for Miss X to pursue a legal route to her complaint. Miss X can come back to us if she is unable to get legal representation or if there are any remaining outcomes we can achieve following legal action.

27. If Miss X chooses to bring the complaint back to us, we advise she does so as quickly as possible. This is because we have a one-year time limit (from the day a person becomes aware of their reason to complain) in which to consider complaints. We can extend this time limit if there are strong reasons to do so.

28. We are sorry to hear of Miss X’s difficult experience and hope she continues her recovery.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Miss X’s complaint about East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear Miss X experienced heavy bleeding and about the impact of these events and the distress she has experienced.

2. We have decided to take no further action as we consider Miss X could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us. We set out the reasons for this decision below.