8. The law says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we decide there is a strong reason to put the time limit aside. We have discussed this with Mr L to understand the reasons why he did not complain sooner. We have also considered the time the Trust took to reply to his complaint.
The consent form and oxygen machine
9. Mr L told us the Trust gave him treatment for COVID-19 on 13 January 2021. He complains the Trust gave him a consent form he could not read and the oxygen machine ran out of water. From speaking to Mr L we understand he knew there was a problem two days later, on 15 January.
10. Mr L said he did not complain sooner because he thought his condition would improve. We look at the date when someone first knew there was a problem, not when the condition became more serious.
11. We would expect Mr L to have brought his complaint to us by 15 January 2022. Mr L complained to us on 25 May 2023. This means these complaints are around a year and four months outside our time limit.
Treatment when discharged from hospital
12. Mr L also complains about not being given an appointment with an occupational therapist and the treatment plan including the withdrawal of steroid tablets. While the exact dates are not clear, we can see from Mr L’s complaint to the Trust that this happened about ten weeks after 13 January 2021.
13. This would mean Mr L knew something was not right around 24 March 2021. We would expect Mr L to have brought this complaint to us by 24 March 2022. Mr L complained to us on 25 May 2023. This means his complaint is around a year and two months outside our time limit.
Explanations for delays
14. Mr L did not complain to the Trust until 22 March 2023. He explained he did not complain to the Trust sooner for several reasons.
15. Mr L explained he was not sure who to complain to because he had treatment from the Trust and a GP practice. He also said he thought his condition would improve with time, so he would not need to complain.
16. Mr L added that he has had physical health issues since his time in hospital that have severely affected him and meant he is fully dependent on his partner. He said this mean he could not work and he has been depressed.
17. Mr L added that he complained to the Trust in March 2023 and as soon as he got a final response from the Trust, he complained to us. While we can see there were reasons for the delay, they do not fully explain the two-year delay in complaining to begin with.
18. We realise Mr L has faced a very difficult time since his stay in hospital. But we do not think these difficulties stopped him from complaining about the Trust for two years. We recognise Mr L thought he would get better and so complaining was less of a priority for him. Mr L did not need to wait two years to see if he would get better. It would have been reasonable for him to complain sooner, rather than waiting such a long time.
19. We have also seen that Mr L had support from his partner and his son. Mr L has mentioned he has dyslexia. We recognise this might have made it harder for him to complain or understand what the process was to complain. With the support of his partner and his son, we feel Mr L could have complained sooner.
20. Overall, we have not seen strong reasons to put our time limit to one side.
Time taken for the Trust’s complaints process
21. Mr L complained to the Trust on 22 March 2023 and the Trust replied on 26 April. Mr L replied to the Trust with outstanding concerns on 18 May. The Trust replied on 22 May saying it had nothing more to add and referred him to us.
22. This tells us that the Trust did not cause a long delay that affected Mr L’s ability to complain to us sooner.
23. It is our role to be impartial and clear in explaining our decision. We hope Mr L understands the reason for our decision. We recognise how important the complaint is to him and that this is not the outcome he was hoping for. We appreciate how difficult it has been for Mr L to speak about the events and we are sorry for any disappointment our decision causes.