Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

3. Miss E complains about the Trust’s care and treatment of Mrs E in July 2022.

4. She complains the Trust:

• misdiagnosed Mrs E’s brain septic emboli (brain infection) as a brain tumour • did not find a pelvic abscess that led to a perforation.

5. Miss E says Mrs E got an infection which became sepsis and caused her death. She says this has been devastating for the family.

6. Miss E wants an apology, service improvements to make sure this does not happen to anyone else and financial compensation.

7. Mrs E was admitted to the Trust in July 2022 with symptoms of confusion and less urine output.

8. Mrs E had several examinations and the Trust thought she had a brain tumour but decided she was too ill for surgery. It also found she had diverticulosis (small pouches that form in the colon) and said there was no infection or perforation.

9. Mrs E was given antibiotics but did not get better.

10. At the end of July, Mrs E was discharged home with palliative care (end of life care). She sadly died in August 2022.

13. 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 E 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 look in to.

14. Miss E wants other outcomes as well as financial compensation and to find out if neglect caused Mrs E’s death. Miss E wants a higher amount of compensation.

15. Miss E could make a legal claim for clinical negligence. Only a court can look at clinical negligence and can award financial compensation for this. We can recommend financial compensation if we uphold a complaint but a court is more appropriate to make a decision on negligence and can award a larger amount of compensation.

16. Miss E also wants an apology and service improvements. These actions may not be directly achievable through a court, but they can be achieved if a legal claim is successful.

17. Miss E says there is nothing to stop her from taking legal action which she is happy to try.

18. Based on what we have seen, we think it is reasonable for Miss E to look into taking legal action. If Miss E is not able to take legal action, she can contact us again. It is important for Miss E to do this as soon as possible because we have a time limit for investigating complaints. We can sometimes put our time limit to one side if we feel it is reasonable to.

19. We thank Miss E for bringing her complaint to us and for speaking to us about this in detail, we recognise this will have been difficult for her. We hope this statement clearly explains the reasons why we will not be considering her concerns further at this time.

1. We have carefully considered Miss E’s complaint about Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). Miss E says her mother, Mrs E, was wrongly diagnosed by the Trust. We understand this was a difficult time. We are sorry to hear of Mrs E’s sad death and the impact this has had on Miss E and her family.

2. We think Miss E should take legal action to resolve her complaint. Legal action could achieve the financial compensation she wants. If she is not able to take legal action or achieve the outcome she is looking for, she can come back to us. We will not take any further action at this time.