Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs A complains about how the Trust acted in March 2022. She says it:

• failed to identify her mother as a ‘falls risk’ patient • left the bed rail down on her mother’s bed.

4. Mrs A says these issues caused her mother to fall out of bed and experience pain. Mrs A thinks this was the main cause of her mother’s death. Mrs A says she and her family experienced distress, grief, anxiety and depression because of what happened.

5. Mrs A would like service improvements, an apology and financial compensation.

6. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (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 A to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not look at whether legal action would succeed, but if it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

7. Mrs A could make a clinical negligence claim because she wants financial compensation for her mother’s death and the impact this has had on the family.

8. Mrs A also wants service improvements. While this is not something a court would recommend, often service improvements are made as a by-product of legal action.

9. We asked Mrs A if there were any barriers that would make it difficult for her to take legal action. Mrs A told us she has already spoken to one solicitor who declined to take her case but recommended she gets an opinion from other solicitors.

10. We appreciate Mrs A has spoken to one solicitor. We do not know what information was discussed and we think it would be reasonable for Mrs A to speak to more solicitors and give them all the evidence she gave to us. This would give the solicitors the best opportunity to review any possible claim fairly.

11. Often taking legal action will involve having a dedicated solicitor/legal professional who has a special interest in winning the case. This may mean Mrs A gets help and support through the process.

12. If there are any outstanding outcomes that cannot be achieved by legal action or Mrs A would like us to look at service improvements after legal action has finished, she can bring the complaint back to us.

13. We have given Mrs A information about our time limits which should be considered if she decides to bring the complaint back to us.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Mrs A’s complaint about Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are not continuing our investigation because Mrs A could take legal action to resolve her complaint.

2. We are sorry to hear about the events she complains about and understand how the death of a loved one has a big impact and has left her with unanswered questions.