Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mr O complains about dental treatment he had at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). He says he had four teeth removed in August 2017. He complains he found out in December 2022 during an appointment with a private dentist that two roots had been left in, and one was seriously infected.

4. He says because of this he had oral problems for the past two years that had a negative impact on his general health, mental health and daily life.

5. Mr O would like a thorough investigation and a full explanation of how the roots were left in his mouth. He would also like financial compensation of £500 for how his health has been affected.

6. On 13 August 2017, Mr O attended a dental procedure at the Trust and four teeth were removed.

7. On 13 September 2017, he went for a dental check up at the Trust and complained of ongoing pain since the procedure. He was told this was normal. The Trust took X-rays and staff did not have any concerns.

8. By December 2022, Mr O says the pain was so bad he went to a private dental appointment. This is when he was told two roots had been left in and one was seriously infected.

9. Mr O had a procedure to remove the roots in June 2023.

11. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (the law) says we cannot investigate complaints that are brought to us more than a year after the person became aware they had reason to complain, unless there is good reason to.

12. In his written complaint to us Mr O said he first became aware of the need to complain in December 2022. This was when he was told two roots had been left in his jaw.

13. Mr O told us he first started to experience pain around September 2017. He said he thought any pain and discomfort from having his teeth removed on 1 August 2017should have settled by then. Mr O said he first mentioned ongoing pain during a follow up appointment on 13 September.

14. Mr O knew he had reason to complain from September 2017.

15. We asked Mr O why he did not complain earlier. Mr O said the pain got increasingly worse from September 2017, but by the time he wanted to get treatment, the COVID-19 pandemic caused dental treatment to be paused. He explained he had severe pain in December 2022 and made the appointment with a private dentist.

16. He says he decided to complain to the Trust on 18 January 2023 because he realised his pain may have been caused by the roots left in his jaw.

17. It took Mr O five years and four months to complain. The Trust dealt with the complaint in two and a half months.

18. As we consider Mr O knew there was a problem on 13 September 2017, to meet our time limit he should have brought his complaint to us by 13 September 2018.

19. We appreciate Mr O had ongoing dental pain. We have only seen evidence that he spoke to someone about this once and was reassured. As he continued to experience a lot of pain, we think he should have made a complaint sooner.

20. The COVID-19 pandemic did affect dentist treatment. But this only affected treatment from March to June 2020, and there is a big gap between this time and September 2017.

21. We have carefully considered Mr O’s reasons for not complaining sooner. There does not seem to have been any barriers to stop Mr O complaining sooner. Because of this, we have not seen good reason to put the time limit to one side.

22. We recognise the pain and distress Mr O was in and we are sorry he experienced this. We hope he understands why we are unable to investigate his complaint.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman are sorry to hear Mr O experienced ongoing tooth pain. We understand the last few years have been worrying for him.

2. We cannot investigate this complaint, as it was brought to us outside of our one-year time limit. We have considered Mr O’s reasons for the delays in coming to us and we have not seen good enough reason to put the time limit to one side.