Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust

3. Mrs I complains the Trust wrongly diagnosed Mr I with lung cancer when he was admitted with COVID-19 pneumonia (a complication of the COVID-19 virus). She also says he was discharged when he was not able to walk or talk and was confused.

4. Mrs I said seeing her husband like this caused her stress. She explains because his cause of death was uncertain a post-mortem (investigation into the cause of death) was needed and this was upsetting.

5. Mrs I wants a financial payment and changes to be made at the Trust so this does not happen to anyone else.

8. 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 discussed this with Mrs I 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.

9. Mrs I wants a financial payment for mistakes she says the Trust made and for the stress and anxiety she felt. She also wants service improvements so this does not happen again to anyone else.

10. Clinical negligence is any act or omission that falls short of a standard expected from an organisation's duty of care. In Mrs I’s complaint she says the Trust fell short of the standard of care her husband should have been given.

11. Mrs I could pursue the financial payment she wants by making a clinical negligence claim. She may also be able to achieve the other outcomes she wants as a by-product of any legal action.

12. Mrs I told us she got legal advice from a solicitor. She said the solicitor thought she has a strong case but was unable to take her case forward. The solicitor gave Mrs I another solicitor’s number to call, who has since asked for Mr I’s medical records with the intention of taking her case to court.

13. Mrs I has an available legal route, she plans to take it and has already started the process. We think it is reasonable for her to continue with this.

14. Once Mrs I has explored her legal options in full, if she is not able to take legal action or it does not achieve all the outcomes she is looking for, she can come back to us and we will reconsider her complaint.

15. She should come back to us as soon as possible because the law places time limits on what we can investigate.

16. We are grateful to Mrs I for telling us about her concerns. We know this has been a very difficult time for her.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs I’s complaint about Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (the Trust). We appreciate her taking the time to come to us with her concerns about the care her husband, Mr I, received from the Trust. We are sorry to hear about the stress she experienced watching her husband’s condition deteriorate before he died.

2. We think Mrs I could take legal action to achieve the outcomes she is looking for. We explain below how we have come to this decision.