North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

3. Mrs F complains about the care and treatment she received from the Trust when she was admitted after her membranes ruptured during pregnancy on 9 September 2023. This is when the amniotic sac breaks open before labour begins. The amniotic sac is the fluid filled sac, that contains and protects a foetus in the womb. At this time, she was approximately 33 weeks pregnant.

4. Specifically, Mrs F says the Trust: • did not check her amniotic fluid • tried to give her insulin injections • incorrectly provided her with steroid injections.

5. Mrs F said as a result of these issues with her care, her son was stillborn. She is now suffering from depression and struggling to sleep.

6. She is looking for service improvements and financial compensation.

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 do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

10. Mrs F is complaining that poor care resulted in her son being stillborn. Understandably this has caused her and her husband a huge amount of upset and distress. One of the outcomes she is seeking is to achieve a financial remedy. She therefore may have the option of pursuing a claim of clinical negligence. Clinical negligence is something people can take to court.

11. She told us she has now received the Trust’s Perinatal Mortality Review Tool report which identifies the Trust was at fault. Mrs F explained she has already spoken to a solicitor, who has agreed to take on her case.

12. Mrs F has not specified a sum of money she is hoping to achieve, but it is possible a legal claim could achieve more compensation for her than we could, if we were to uphold her complaint.

13. As she has already instructed a solicitor to act on her behalf, it is reasonable to say there are no barriers to Mrs F pursuing a legal claim.

14. We have also thought about the other outcome Mrs F seeks, as she explained she also hopes to achieve service improvements. Whilst they may not come about as a direct result of legal action, it is possible she could achieve these as a by-product of any legal claim.

15. We recognise how it can be challenging to make a complaint and would like to thank Mrs F for bringing her concerns to us. We hope this did not add to Mrs F’s distress. We will be not looking into her complaint at this time as she is currently exploring legal action in relation to the issues she has raised with our service.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs F’s complaint about North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (the Trust). We were deeply sorry to hear that her son was stillborn. We recognise the significant distress this caused to Mrs F and her husband, and cannot imagine how difficult this must be for them and their family.

2. We have reviewed all of the information Mrs F has provided and we believe there is an alternative legal remedy, in the form of pursuing a claim for clinical negligence, available to her. We believe this is the best action for her in the circumstances and she should explore this option further. We will explain the reasons for our decision below.