12. 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 very good reason to.
Care received in 2019
13. Mr D became aware of these issues in February 2019 but did not approach us until November 2023. This means Mr D’s complaint is three years and nine months out of time.
14. Mr D says he did not want to complain about these issues when they first happened because he did not ‘want to rock the boat’. Mr D was concerned he may be put to the back of the Trust’s waiting list if he complained.
15. Mr D tells us when the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020 he was unable to complain in person due to NHS visiting restrictions and he is not good with computers, so was unable to email his complaint. He also says the COVID-19 lockdowns meant family members and his health support worker were unable to visit and help him to email his complaint.
16. He says it was only in May 2023 that he felt able to complain and got he got help from his health support worker. He says by this time, his treatment was largely complete and he did not feel any further treatment he may need would be compromised.
17. Having carefully considered Mr D’s explanation, we see he had the opportunity to complain between February 2019 and February 2020. This period, immediately after his treatment, came before the COVID-19 pandemic so all routes and support networks would have been open to him to make his complaint.
18. Had Mr D made his complaint soon after the events took place, it is likely the Trust would have responded quickly (we can see the Trust responded within two months when he later complained). This would have allowed Mr D to come to us much sooner.
19. We recognise Mr D was concerned that by complaining it may somehow affect his treatment. While we understand his view, we cannot accept this as a reason for the delay. The NHS Constitution sets out that a patient’s treatment will not be negatively affected if they decide to make a complaint. We do not think this is a good enough reason to put our time limit to one side.
Care received in 2021
20. Mr D says he got a call from his consultant’s secretary on 23 December who told him he had cancer. He says he asked his consultant about the diagnosis during a consultation in late February or early March 2022 and they knew nothing about it.
21. Mr D seems to have been aware of this issue in early March 2022 at the latest but did not come to us until November 2023. This means Mr D’s complaint is around eight months out of time.
22. Mr D says he did not complain to the Trust at the time because he was on pain killing medication and was not himself. He says he wanted to complain in person but could not because of the COVID-19 pandemic and he could not complain by email because he is not good with computers.
23. Mr D adds that he called the Trust’s complaints team, but they insisted he put his complaint in writing, but he was unable to do this until his health support worker helped him in May 2023.
24. We understand Mr D finds it difficult to use email and to write, so making a complaint himself would have been challenging. While there were no COVID-19 lockdowns during this period and most services were back to normal, we recognise it will have been difficult for Mr D to complain in the way he wanted.
25. This being said, Mr D could have used an advocate to help him in making his complaint. We can see he contacted an advocacy in February 2022 to ask for help. While his advocate went on long term sick leave and was unavailable from late February, they got back in touch in early September, but Mr D declined their help and decided not to make his complaint at that time. Mr D did not complain to the Trust until May 2023.
26. We think Mr D had several opportunities to make his complaint earlier. He could have done this in February 2022 by asking for another advocate to support him when his current one went on long term sick leave. He could also have made his complaint in September 2022 when the advocate approached him. Had Mr D made his complaint at these earlier stages, it is likely he would have been able to bring his complaint to us much sooner than he did.
27. For the reasons above, we have decided to take no further action with Mr D’s complaint.
28. We are very sorry to hear about Mr D’s experience and it is clear it has been a very difficult time for him. It is important we consider the law and we are sorry for any upset this decision may cause. We hope this statement clearly explains the reasons why we will not be considering the complaint further.