Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

3. Miss F complains about aspects of the Trust’s care and treatment of her late father, Mr F, between 1 – 25 December 2022. Specifically:

• Mr F went to hospital on 1 December 2022 suffering pain and swelling. The Trust diagnosed water retention and sent him home the same day with medication to treat this. Miss F said her father was suffering from an infection and should have had antibiotics. She said this diagnosis was supported by a junior doctor, who was later overruled by a consultant.

• Mr F returned to hospital by ambulance on 4 December 2022. Between 45 December the Trust gave contradictory explanations about what Mr F was suffering from. The Trust eventually concluded Mr F was suffering from a pulmonary oedema.

• The Trust tried to discharge Mr F on 7 December 2022, but he was too unwell and collapsed.

• The Trust gave poor nursing care to Mr F. Specifically: • The nurses refused to remove Mr F’s stitches from an operation he had a few weeks before he came into hospital.

• An agency nurse failed to give Mr F anti-coagulation medicine in his stomach and was rude to him when he was in subsequent pain.

• An agency nurse failed to take Mr F’s observations properly before 7 December.

• An agency nurse failed to help Mr F with the toilet.

• An agency nurse shouted at Mr F after he collapsed on 7 December.

• Miss F also complains about the Trust’s attempts to resolve her complaint. She said the Trust promised to carry out an investigation about what happened to Mr F and then failed to do this. She also said the Trust’s responses to her complaint focused on what the nurses did, and ignored the actions of the consultant on 1 December 2022, and the confusion about a diagnosis on 4-5 December.

4. Miss F said the Trust’s actions caused the following impacts:

• Mr F was sent home with inappropriate medication when he was clearly very unwell. This decision caused his condition to deteriorate and could have been avoided.

• The Trust’s contradictory explanations caused a delay in appropriate treatment.

• The Trust subjected Mr F to unnecessary distress when it tried to discharge him when he was clearly unwell.

• Mr F suffered distress and a loss of dignity from the poor nursing care. He was also subjected to an unnecessary discharge procedure which would not have happened if the nurse had completed his observations correctly.

• Miss F and her family suffered significant distress from the poor care and treatment the Trust gave Mr F.

• Mr F died in hospital on 25 December 2022. Miss F argues this was avoidable. His death caused her and her family significant distress.

5. Miss F would like the Ombudsman to achieve the following:

• To find the Trust were negligent when they treated Mr F; and • Recommend a minimum payment of £600,000 compensation.

7. 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 have discussed this with Miss F 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.

8. Miss F told us she wants the Ombudsman to find the Trust was negligent when it looked after her father. She said she also wants a minimum compensation payment of £600,000. The Ombudsman is not able to achieve either of these outcomes. We asked Miss F if she would change her outcomes to something the Ombudsman can achieve. She has not told us if she is willing to do this.

9. Only a court can make a finding of clinical negligence and award significant compensation of the amount Miss F seeks. This means we cannot investigate her complaint because there is legal alternative available to her. We can see no reason why it would be unreasonable for her to seek legal advice.

10. We recognise how distressing the events in the complaint have been for Miss F and her family. We hope she understands why we cannot investigate her complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Miss F’s complaint about the Trust. We have decided we will not start an investigation about the matters she brought to us. This is because the outcomes she wants can only be achieved through legal action. We recognise she is likely to be disappointed by this decision.

2. Miss F’s complaint is about the way the Trust looked after her father before he tragically died in hospital. Miss F has explained the significant distress this has caused her and her family. We offer them our sincere condolences for this.