A practice in the Sheffield area

Practice one

3. Mr C says a doctor from Practice one attended his mother’s home on 14 March 2022 as he was concerned about the swelling in his mother’s legs.

4. Mr C complains the doctor gave tablet medication, which his mother could not swallow, and did not listen to his suggestion about what medication had worked before. He also complains the Medical Centre delayed in sending his mother’s antibiotic prescription to their local pharmacy.

5. Mr C says he was very concerned for his mother’s wellbeing and the doctor’s mistakes alongside the delay in his mother receiving medication added to his distress.

6. Mr C wants a further explanation around the care his mother received and for the Medical Centre to pay him a financial remedy.

Practice two

7. Mr C says he Practice two on 24 February 2022 after his mother, Mrs H, had suffered leg swelling for around two weeks. Mr C complains the doctor refused to attend his mother’s home and would not accept his mother had cellulitis. Mr C is also concerned the doctor did not offer any medication.

8. Mr C tells us his mother sadly died in July 2022 and this could have been avoided had the doctor given his mother medication for cellulitis. He says he is devastated to lose his mother and is further distressed by the belief her death could have been avoided.

9. Mr C wants a further explanation around the care his mother received and for GP Collaborative to pay him a financial remedy.

PCS

10. Mr C complains a PCS doctor who reviewed his mother at home on 1 March 2022 failed to prescribe antibiotics to treat her cellulitis.

11. Mr C says he was increasingly concerned about his mother’s wellbeing and the failure to correctly treat his mother caused further distress.

12. Mr C wants a further explanation around the care his mother received and for PCS to pay him a financial remedy.

The Trust

13. Mr C complains the Trust stopped his mother’s cancer medication following her admission on 13 April 2022. He also complains his mother suffered an injury to her foot during this same admission due to poor nursing care.

14. Mr C says he is both upset and very frustrated by his mother’s poor care. He wants a further explanation around the care his mother received and for the Trust to pay him a financial remedy.

The Nursing Home

15. Mr C complains his mother tested positive for COVID-19 at the Nursing Home on 18 June 2022 despite being placed on a ‘COVID free’ floor. Mr C says his mother was already very unwell at this stage and catching COVID-19 further compounded her illness and caused considerable distress.

16. Mr C wants a further explanation around the care his mother received and for the Nursing Home to pay him a financial remedy.

17. Mr C contacted GP Collaborative on 24 February 2022 as he was concerned about his mother’s swollen leg. She was reviewed at home by a paramedic on 1 March and again by a GP a couple of weeks later who prescribed antibiotics.

18. Mrs H was taken the Trust’s emergency department (ED) on 13 April and was discharged to the Nursing Home on 14 June. Mrs H’s condition deteriorated on 18 June, and she tested positive for COVID-19. She was readmitted to hospital that same day.

19. Mrs H was again discharged to the Nursing Home on 30 June. Due to her continued deterioration, she was placed on end-of-life care on 9 July and sadly died the next day.

22. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider it is (or was) unreasonable under the circumstances.

23. A person may pursue a clinical negligence claim and seek compensation if they believe poor care and treatment caused them an injury. Someone may also pursue a clinical negligence claim on behalf of a family member who they believe has died as a result of the care and treatment they received.

24. Mr C tells us his mother’s death was avoidable and wants compensation to put this right. We discussed the financial remedy Mr C was looking for and he told us he would expect ‘quite a bit more’ than the £10,000 we may typically recommend in this kind of complaint.

25. Mr C also tells us he is the executor of his mother’s estate and is currently going through probate. He says he recently sought advice from a solicitor about taking legal action against the NHS organisations but delayed this as he wanted to see what we found first. Mr C says he plans to share our investigation findings with his solicitor in the hope it will aid his legal claim.

26. Mr C appears to have a legal route open to him and it appears reasonable for him to pursue it. Alongside this, we must be clear that our investigations are funded by the public. It would not be an appropriate use of public funds to investigate Mr C’s complaint knowing he intends to use it to further his legal claim.

27. Taking all of this into account, legal action appears to be a reasonable option for Mr C to continue to explore and we are unable to keep the case open while he does this. This is why we are taking no further action on this complaint.

28. If Mr C is unable to pursue legal action or the court does not look at all the outcomes he wants, he may decide to bring this complaint back to us. If that happens, we will need to consider our time limit, so it is important he returns to us promptly. We will also check how far he got with the legal process to understand why he has returned to us.

29. We recognise how significantly Mrs H’s passing affected Mr C. We would like to offer our condolences for his loss and hope this decision statement clearly explains our reasoning.

1. We have carefully considered Mr C’s complaint about a GP practice in the Sheffield area (Practice one), Primary Care Sheffield (PCS), a GP practice in the Sheffield area (Practice two), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) and a nursing home in the Sheffield area (the Nursing Home). We are sorry to hear of his concerns about the care his mother, Mrs H, received before she died.

2. We consider Mr C could take legal action on the matter he has brought to us. As we have explained in this statement, we have decided not to consider the complaint further.