University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

4. Mrs D complains about the care and treatment she received at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) on 8 November 2022. She specifically complains that: • correct diagnostics were not followed at the ED • staff wrongly interpreted a blood test and therefore gave an incorrect diagnosis, leading to significant complications for Mrs D • her previous medical history was not properly taken into account, particularly in relation to medications she was taking.

5. Mrs D became very unwell as a result of the delay in diagnosing her with upper limb deep vein thrombosis (DVT). She has been in significant pain and has been diagnosed with Paget-Schroetter disease and neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. She has since had to undergo an operation to relieve some of the symptoms she has been left with since the diagnosis. She has also lost her job as she is unable to work anymore due to being unable to physically carry out tasks.

6. Mrs D is seeking a financial remedy and service improvements.

8. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the opportunity to take legal action unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We discussed this with Mrs D to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider if the legal action would succeed, but if it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

9. Mrs D says that because of the delay in correctly diagnosing her with upper limb DVT and giving appropriate treatment, she has been left in significant pain and has had to have an operation with a long recovery.

10. As an outcome, Mrs D is seeking service improvements and financial compensation. During a call on 25 March 2024, we discussed with Mrs D the possibility of her taking legal action to achieve the financial remedy. We discussed our severity of injustice scale and the maximum amounts likely to be achieved, should we uphold the complaint. Mrs D said given the considerable distress that she had endured as a result of what happened at the ED, she would be looking for a significant amount of money, more than is likely to be recommended in line with our scale.

11. Mrs D may have a legal claim in clinical negligence, given she says she has suffered significantly physically because of the delay in her diagnosis and the correct treatment being offered.

12. We have considered that Mrs D’s complaint relates to issues regarding the treatment from the Trust. She advised she is looking for substantial compensation because of the trauma that she has suffered and the effect the delay in diagnosis has had on her both physically and mentally.

13. The primary outcome of legal action would be the financial remedy, which is the most important outcome to her given the suffering she has endured. The listed outcome of financial compensation is one that can be achieved through legal action. Mrs D is looking to obtain a level of compensation that legal action could achieve.

14. Mrs D said that she has already instructed solicitors and is making the claim on a no win, no fee basis. We discussed with Mrs D that we are unable to investigate her complaint while legal action is being pursued.

15. Mrs D is also looking for a secondary outcome in service improvements. These would not be the focus of legal action. After the conclusion of legal action, Mrs D can return to us if she has not achieved all the outcomes she is looking for. We would then consider whether we should take any further action.

16. We do not want to disadvantage Mrs D with regards to the amount of compensation she could achieve via legal action. We may not be able to achieve the amount she is looking for and legal action is more likely to be able to achieve a higher amount if successful. Mrs D has the option to refer the complaint back to us if legal action is unable to achieve all the outcomes that she requires.

17. We consider Mrs D has an alternative legal remedy available to her complaint. We also consider it is reasonable for her to pursue this and there are no barriers. Therefore, this complaint by Mrs D has an alternative legal remedy and we have decided not to consider it further.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs D’s complaint about University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust).

2. We understand the events that caused Mrs D to complain are very important to her. We recognise the impact the events have had on her over the last 18 months and acknowledge how difficult a time it has been for her.

3. We consider Mrs D could take legal action by way of a clinical negligence claim on the matter she has brought to us. We think this is the most appropriate way for Mrs D to pursue her concerns. This is because successful legal action is more likely to achieve the outcomes that she is seeking. Therefore we have decided to take no further action at this time.