Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

2. Miss G complains about the care and treatment the Trust gave to her uncle, Mr I, from February to March 2022.

3. Miss G says the Trust wrongly put Mr I on end-of-life care for kidney failure. She feels the Trust has been negligent as it prescribed the wrong medication and did not meet Mr I’s daily personal needs. Miss G explains she felt helpless as Mr I was let down by the Trust’s care. She feels he died sooner than he should have.

4. Miss G would like an apology and financial compensation of over £5,000.

5. Miss G says Mr I was admitted to the Trust’s emergency department on 9 February 2022, after his carers were worried about his confusion and shortness of breath.

6. The Trust’s Frail Elderly Service treated Mr I and reviewed his memory function, breathing and leg swelling. The Trust confirmed Mr I’s leg swelling was making his blood pressure drop, which can cause falls.

7. The Trust gave Mr I furosemide (high blood pressure medication) to help reduce the leg swelling, but stopped this as it was causing dizziness. The Trust then prescribed fludrocortisone to help with his dropping blood pressure. A side effect of this medication is fluid retention, which may have made the leg swelling worse.

8. The Trust’s complaint response explained it adjusted Mr I’s medication to midodrine (used for patients with a drop in blood pressure when standing) to help manage the leg swelling and dizziness. Mr I was discharged on 9 February and readmitted on 16 February. Miss G says the Trust lost the medical records so it could not fully answer her complaint.

10. 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 Miss G to understand her circumstances, and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed, but whether it would be a reasonable option to take.

11. In general terms, clinical negligence is when a patient becomes injured as a result of treatment. Failure to give appropriate treatment could also be negligence. Clinical negligence is a legal term and not something we can make a decision on. We need to decide if legal action is the best route for Miss G to achieve her outcomes.

12. Miss G feels Mr I died much sooner than he should have due to the Trust’s poor care. She would like financial compensation. Miss G could make a clinical negligence claim. She explained she had not taken legal advice bit felt this was an option. We have not seen any barriers that would make it difficult for her to take legal action. Miss G explained she is able to contact a ‘no-win, no-fee’ solicitor.

13. Having taken all the circumstances into account, we consider it is reasonable for Miss G to explore the possibility of taking legal action to address her complaint and achieve the outcomes she wants. We are not taking any more action to allow her to do this while she is still within the time limit for making a claim.

14. If Miss G is unable to take legal action, she can bring her complaint back to us and we will see if we can help. We have a one-year time limit to make a complaint, so if Miss G needs to return to us, she should do this as soon as possible.

15. We hope we have clearly explained why we are unable to consider her complaint any further and why taking legal advice would be the best way forward for her.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Miss G’s complaint about Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust). We understand her experience has been very distressing for her and her family. We think Miss G should take legal action to resolve the complaint.