Barts Health NHS Trust

2. Miss E complains about several aspects of the care and treatment her son Master E received from Barts NHS Trust.

3. Miss E says on 20 September 2022 after a long wait in the Emergency Department staff failed to admit Master E to the hospital. She explains Master E was later admitted to the hospital on 21 September 2022, she says during this admission between 20 September and 11 October 2022, nurses missed his medication periods, failed to attend his drip alarm, turned the alarm off, subsequently she says Master E’s pain relief ran out.

4. She says on 23 September 2022 the anaesthetist continued to perform an MRI scan on Master E for four hours when she had only consented for a two hour scan. She explains there was also a lack of communication from the anaesthetist about the results of the scan. She says prior to Master E’s discharge on 11 October 2022 the Trust failed to discuss his management at home or provide him with appropriate equipment to assist his health condition.

5. Miss E explains the Trust’s continence department has constantly provided incorrect products and provided inadequate assistance for Master E. She says the Trust stopped Master E’s physiotherapy and refuses to provide an appropriate bed for his appointments. She also says a person attended her home with the physiotherapist and refused to show her their identification.

6. Miss E explains her son has been affected physically and mentally because nurses missed his medication periods, his pain relief ran out and he was left crying in pain. She says after the MRI scan he was left in pain and severely ill. Miss E explains her son’s mobility was significantly affected because the Trust failed to discuss or provide for his needs. She says as a result his recovery has been delayed, his mobility has become worse, and he is still bedbound. Miss E says the Trust has been negligent and failed in its duty of care. She feels both she and Master E experienced a severe amount of disability discrimination which has had a profound and traumatising effect on them both. She says she has been affected financially because she had to pursue private medical care due to the negligence of the Trust.

7. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person had, or has the option to take legal action, unless we consider it is, or was unreasonable to do so. We have explained this to Miss E. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be reasonable to look into.

8. There is an alternative legal route by way of a claim for clinical negligence. This is because, as part of her desired outcome, Miss E wants a financial remedy of £10,000, which could be achieved in court, for the lack of care provided by the Trust and the effect on her son since events happened. If she cannot follow the legal process or is unsuccessful, we may be able to consider the case should she come back to us.

9. It is unlikely we would be able to recommend this amount even if we were to investigate and find failings which led to the impact she describes.

10. Although it is clear Miss E wants compensation, she told us she has not yet sought legal advice. Miss E did not tell me of any barriers to exploring the legal route such as fear of attending court or ill health which would make the process difficult. As such we consider it reasonable for her to do so.

11. Once Miss E has explored the legal route in full, if she is unable to pursue this for any reason, she may come back to us, and we could potentially consider it again. However, the law says we can only consider complaints which have been brought to us within 12 months of the person becoming aware of the need to complain.

12. Due to the reasons described above we will not be looking into Miss E’s complaint further at this time. We do not underestimate the impact of the issues Miss E has raised. We hope we have explained our decision clearly.

1. We have carefully considered Miss E’s complaint about Barts NHS Trust. We are sorry to hear about her concerns and recognise the effect these have had on her and her son Master E. We have decided not to consider her complaint further at this time. This is because there is an alternative legal route available to her, and it is reasonable for her to pursue it.