3. Mr N complains the Trust failed to treat his heart condition with a stent procedure in good time.
4. As a result, Mr N says he had a heart attack in December 2021. He feels this could have been avoided if the Trust treated him when he was first seen in October 2021.
5. Mr N would like compensation of £10,000.
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 Mr N to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.
9. Mr N is looking for compensation to address the long-term impact caused by the Trust’s treatment. We think Mr N could make a clinical negligence claim.
10. We wrote to Mr N to understand how much compensation he wants and sent him our severity of injustice scale (a scale showing how much compensation we recommend based on how someone has been affected by a problem).
11. Mr N thinks his injustice is level six on our scale (£10,000 and more) because the Trust’s action led to a delay in him having treatment for his heart condition. He says he suffers from angina and is unable to work.
12. Although the financial outcome Mr N is seeking is within our financial scale to award, we cannot guarantee we would award this amount if we were to uphold his complaint. The clinical negligence process exists solely to resolve claims, where people have been affected in a similar way to Mr N. We think Mr N’s complaint is better suited to legal action.
13. We have not seen any barriers stopping Mr N from taking a legal route. Mr N told us he did seek legal advice before bringing his complaint to us but nothing happened. Mr N does not know whether he has a claim or not.
14. Mr N has the option of approaching legal firms that offer ‘no-win, no-fee’ arrangements or he can speak to his local Citizens Advice Bureau. Mr N can also contact AVMA (Action Against Medical Accident) for help.
15. We have not seen that Mr N’s complaint is so complex that it would be difficult for him to pursue a clinical negligence claim. We think it is reasonable for Mr N to take a legal route to achieve the full amount of compensation he wants.
1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Mr N’s complaint about North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear about how the events continue to affect Mr N.
2. We consider Mr N could take legal action on the matter he has brought to us.