9. 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 Mr D to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.
10. Mr D says the care and treatment from the Practice fell short of expected standards. He wants a large financial payment of £10,000 to £20,000. We think Mr D could make a claim for clinical negligence.
11. The amount Mr D wants is more than what we would typically recommend but could be achieved by a clinical negligence claim.
12. We understand why Mr D came to us first because organisations like the dental complaints authority and his local hospital directed him to us. But we cannot consider a complaint if the person could potentially take legal action to address their concerns.
13. Mr D has confirmed he wants to explore legal action. Mr D is willing to talk to local solicitors to get legal advice, which can be free of charge. He could also consider getting legal help on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, meaning he would not pay any upfront costs - this is something Mr D was concerned about.
14. Mr D said he has some health issues which could be a barrier to him getting legal advice. Mr D understands we are an impartial organisation but taking legal action through a solicitor would mean he has a representative to work for him, which could make things easier for him. We think this removes any barrier to him taking legal action.
15. We have decided it is reasonable for Mr D to look into legal action and we will not consider the complaint further.
16. Mr D would also like an apology and for the Practice to acknowledge what went wrong. While these actions are not always directly achievable through the legal action they can happen if a claim is successful. We can achieve apologies and acknowledgments. But we understand the financial outcome is most important to Mr D. Because of this, we think it is reasonable for him to take legal action because it is more likely to achieve his main outcome.
17. Once Mr D has explored the legal route, if he is not able to take it any further, he may come back to us and we will consider looking at it. He might also be able to come back to us if he still has outcomes that legal action was not able to look in to.
18. The law says we can only consider complaints which have been brought to us within 12 months of the person becoming aware of a problem. So if Mr D needs to come back to us, he should do this quickly.
19. We hope we have explained the thorough consideration we have given to our decision and clearly outlined the reasons for it.