The Trust said Miss B’s mother was an awful person and did not deserve to wear a bra
15. 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 consider there is a good reason to.
16. Miss B is unsure of the exact date when this happened, but thinks it was around two years after her mother’s death.
17. Miss B’s mother died in October 2016. She explained she would go to the café in the hospital after her mother’s death, as a way of remembering her mother. She said that one day she went upstairs to one of the wards. While she was there a nurse made the comments she complains about.
18. For this part of Miss B’s complaint to be in time, she would have needed to complain to us at least by December 2019, as she was aware of the problem at the end of 2018. Miss B came to us about this when she called us on 25 August 2023. Her complaint is around four years and eight months outside of our time limit.
19. In line with the law, we have considered whether it is reasonable for us to put the time limit to one side. We discussed this with Miss B to understand the reasons why she did not bring the complaint to us sooner. We have also considered the time the Trust took to respond to Miss B about this complaint.
20. Miss B confirmed that after the nursing staff made comments about her mother, she raised a complaint to the Trust. Miss B believed this was around 2020. She explained that the Trust ignored the complaint and it just disappeared.
21. Miss B said she does not know the reason for the delay and is unable to say why she waited.
22. Because Miss B did not complain to the Trust until 2020, it was already outside of our time limit.
23. Miss B did bring a complaint to us on 14 March 2023 but she did not mention this issue until the phone call on 25 August 2023. Miss B also brought a complaint to us in February 2018 saying the Trust’s failings had caused her mother’s death. We closed this case on 7 September 2018 because she had not complained to the Trust first. This complaint did not mention the comments made by nursing staff.
24. We appreciate that Miss B would have been grieving after her mother’s death and the comments would have been upsetting. Having thought about this carefully, we have not seen strong reasons to put our time limit to one side in this case.
The Trust criticised the poem Miss B wrote
25. Miss B is unsure of the exact date when she wrote the poem and the Trust made the comment about it. She believes it was in 2020. She says she was famous at the time and the poem was read out on TV. She explained Trust staff were unhappy about the poem.
26. For this part of the complaint to be in time, she would have needed to complain to us by at least December 2021, a year from when what she is unhappy about happened. Miss B complained to us about this issue in a phone call on 25 August 2023, making this complaint around 18 months outside of our time limit.
27. We again considered whether it is reasonable for us to put our time limit to one side.
28. Miss B said she complained to a senior nurse straight away and they told her to forget about it. Miss B said this made her think she could not take it further. Miss B said she never thought about bringing this issue to us. She said she raised it now because she has other concerns.
29. Miss B would have been aware she had a reason to complain to us in 2020, but she did not mention it when she came to us in March 2023.
30. We realise the comments would have been upsetting. We have not seen strong reasons to put our time limit to one side because we think Miss B could have come to us about this much sooner.
The Trust sent Miss B an unkind letter and advised her to see her GP for support
31. Before we decide if we should do a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not seen any signs that something has gone wrong.
32. Miss B complained about a letter the Trust wrote on 30 January 2023. She explained the letter is unkind and she is unhappy that it suggested she go to her GP for support. Miss B explained she does not need to see her GP because it was the Trust’s fault. She says it is the Trust that has caused her stress.
33. We reviewed the letter sent by the Trust. It apologised for the delay in responding to her original letter. The Trust explained when it had sent responses before to the complaints raised. The Trust stated that at the time of the first complaint, it did an in-depth review of the concerns Miss B raised. The Trust explained that because of the time that has passed since the events, it is unable to investigate the complaint further.
34. The Trust said it understood how difficult the situation is and how upsetting it must still be for Miss B. It said if she needs more support, she should see her GP.
35. Our Principles explain how we expect organisations to deal with complaints. They say organisations should be open accountable and honest and give clear, evidence-based explanations for their decisions. Organisations should be customer-focused and ‘Treat complainants sensitively and in a way that takes account of their needs’.
36. We understand this may have been upsetting for Miss B, especially because it relates to her mother’s death. We are sorry to hear this led her to doubting whether she can ever go to the Trust again for fair treatment.
37. Having thought about this issue carefully, we do not think the Trust did anything wrong and it acted in line with our Principles.
38. We would like to reassure Miss B that the Trust would not be able to discriminate against her just because she made a complaint.
39. We recognise that Miss B may be disappointed with this decision and we are sorry for any distress it causes. We must be impartial and transparent when explaining our decision. We hope she understands the reasons for our decision and thank her for bringing her complaint to us.