Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust

3. Mrs O complains about the care and treatment her husband received from the Trust between October 2021 and March 2022.

4. Mrs O says the Trust did not action a request for a scan for Mr O after he attended the Trust in October 2021. Mr O died in May 2022. Mrs O believes that if Mr O had been referred for the scan, the diagnosis would have been made sooner and more treatment options would have been available to prolong Mr O’s life.

5. Mrs O says because of the failings:

• she can no longer afford to pay her mortgage and must sell the family home due to financial hardship. If the house does not sell, she fears it will be repossessed, leaving her and her son homeless • she and her husband lost the opportunity to get their finances in order as he died shortly after his diagnosis • her health and ability to work has suffered due to the distress of these events.

6. Mrs O wants a minimum of £10,000 financial compensation, and service improvements to the Trust.

Issue – Care and treatment

8. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mrs O to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants.

9. Mrs O says she does not want this to be about money. She explained to us she has been encouraged by her son and family to pursue compensation as she is not in a strong financial position due to the death of her husband.

10. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

11. We have considered that Mrs O’s complaint relates to clinical issues regarding the care and treatment her husband received from the Trust, which she says contributed to his death.

12. Mrs O tells us she wants a minimum of £10,000 compensation and service improvements as an outcome to her complaint. We cannot achieve service improvements as an outcome to Mrs O’s complaint because the Trust is now closed.

13. As the complaint relates to clinical issues and administration errors, combined with Mrs O’s request for financial compensation, it is reasonable to expect her to seek legal advice and/or action. We consider the courts would be better able to give Mrs O the outcome she wants.

14. Mrs O has given us no reason why she is not taking legal action, or why she has not got legal advice before coming to us, about the concerns she has raised. We have not found any reasons that would stop Mrs O from pursing legal action, nor have we found any circumstances or reasons why legal action is not suitable for this case.

15. Mrs O could contact us again if she finds she does not have a basis for a legal case, or there are outcomes not achievable via that route when her legal case has finished (although we have not found any at this time).

16. As all complaints we receive are subject to the time limit set for us by law, it is important that any future approach to the Ombudsman about this complaint is made with no avoidable delays. Mrs O would need to account for any time that has passed so we can consider if there are good reasons for this. We can only make allowances for delays outside a complainant’s control due to exceptional circumstances.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Mrs O’s complaint about Lincolnshire Health Services NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear about the loss of Mrs O’s husband, the difficult experience Mrs O has had, and the distress it has caused her.

2. We consider Mrs O could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us. We have considered all circumstances of the complaint and what Mrs O has told us, and decided to take no further action.