3. Mrs U complains that between April 2021 and June 2022 the Trust:
• failed to properly assess and treat her knee injury • delayed orthopaedic and physiotherapy appointments • caused more damage to her knee because of the poor treatment of her injury.
4. Mrs U says these issues delayed her recovery, caused over 33 months of unnecessary pain, anxiety and depression and had a big impact on her lifestyle and work.
5. Mrs U would like an apology, service improvements and a financial payment.
7. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 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 U 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.
8. It seems Mrs U could make a clinical negligence claim. We looked at whether it would be reasonable for her to do this and if it would achieve the outcomes she wants.
9. Mrs U says a financial payment is important to her for the impact this had on her. We do not recommend financial payments in the same way as a court. We would not want to disadvantage Mrs U by not giving her the opportunity to take legal action and potentially achieve a higher payment.
10. Mrs U also wants service improvements and an apology. While this is not something a court would order, often these can happen as a by-product of legal action.
11. We asked Mrs U if there were any barriers that would make it difficult for her to take legal action. Mrs U told us there are no barriers stopping her from exploring legal action. We think Mrs U should contact solicitors and provide them with the evidence she has given us. This would give a solicitor the best opportunity to fairly review any possible claim.
12. Taking legal action would mean having a dedicated solicitor or legal professional who has an interest in winning the case. That might mean Mrs U feels more supported because we are an impartial service and unable to take sides. If there are any outcomes that cannot be achieved by legal action or if Mrs U would like us to look at service improvements separately after legal action has finished, she can bring the complaint back to us.
1. We have carefully considered Mrs U’s complaint about Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). Mrs U could take legal action to resolve her complaint.
2. We are sorry to hear Mrs U’s concerns about the care and treatment she had from the Trust after hurting her knee. We understand this issue caused her unnecessary pain, distress and it had an impact on her personal and work life.