5. The law says a complaint should be brought to us within a year of the person becoming aware of the problem. This is referred to as the ‘date of knowledge’. We cannot consider complaints brought to us more than one year after the date of knowledge unless we can see there was an exceptional circumstance which prevented the person from doing so.
6. Mr E’s mother was admitted to hospital on 7 February 2018 and sadly died on 24 February 2018. Mr E sent his formal complaint to the Trust on 27 January 2019 and the Trust sent its response to Mr E on 20 February 2019
7. In his initial complaint to the Trust of 27 January 2019 Mr E complained about the sedative medication the Trust provided to his mother and his view that this led to her becoming over sedated. He also complained that the Trust continued to administer opiate medication in increasing doses which he says was used to bring his mother’s life to an end in line with the discredited and withdrawn LCP.
8. In its response of 20 February 2019 the Trust addressed the points raised by Mr E about the sedative medication provided to his mother and it specifically stated that she was treated with both midazolam and alfentanil medication during her end-of-life care. The Trust also confirmed the approach taken to his mother’s care at that time including moving her to a cubicle to maintain her dignity and ensure her privacy as she had a poor prognosis. The Trust acknowledged Mr E’s views on the LCP and confirmed it was no longer in use at that time.
9. During our discussion on 10 May 2024 Mr E said although he was not happy with the Trust’s response of 20 February 2019, he decided not to pursue his complaint at that time.
10. Mr E wrote to the Trust again on 3 July 2023, 4 years and 4 months after the Trust’s response. Mr E restated his complaint that the Trust provided his mother with excessive and inappropriate sedative medication to accelerate her death in line with the LCP.
11. The Trust issued 2 further responses to Mr E on 18 September and 30 October 2023 to provide a further explanation for the medication it provided to his mother during her end-of-life care. Mr E then brought his complaint to us on 5 January 2024. This is 5 years and 11 months after the incident being complained about and 4 years and 11 months after the Trust issued its initial response to Mr E’s complaint.
12. During our discussion on 10 May 2024 Mr E said he decided to look at his complaint again in early 2023 after reading claims in some areas of the media about excessive deaths allegedly linked to covid vaccinations and the use of midazolam medication in end-of-life care. Mr E says at this time he decided to do his own research into the sedative medication the Trust provided to his mother.
13. Mr E said it is only after he researched the two medications provided to his mother (midazolam and alfentanil) that he discovered they can cause breathing difficulties if used inappropriately and if used together. Mr E says this prompted his further complaint to the Trust on 3 July 2023 and he says this is the date of knowledge for his complaint.
14. Having considered all of the information available to us we have seen no evidence which would allow us to set our time limit aside and investigate the points of complaint at this late stage. We acknowledge the information provided by Mr E about the research he carried out in 2023 into the medications provided to his mother. We also acknowledge how distressing this incident was for him and the profound impact the death of his mother has had.
15. It is clear Mr E was aware that he had a reason to complain about the sedative medication provided to his mother earlier than 2023 as he had already made his complaint to the Trust about this in 2019.
16. We have seen no evidence to indicate it would not have been possible for Mr E to pursue his complaint sooner after the Trust response of 20 February 2019. The 4 year and 4 month delay between the Trust response of 20 February 2019 and Mr E’s follow up complaint of 3 July 2023 has led to the complaint falling considerably outside our time limit.
17. We acknowledge Mr E decided to research the sedative medications in 2023. However as he had already complained about these medications and as the Trust had responded to his complaint and confirmed the medications provided, we have seen no evidence to indicate it was not possible for Mr E to have taken this action and pursue his complaint sooner after the Trust’s response of February 2019.
18. For this reason we have decided not to consider Mr E’s complaint further. Once again we acknowledge the severity of the complaint and the impact this has had on him. It is clear that the death of his mother has had a devastating impact on Mr E and this was clear to us during our consideration of the evidence he provided to support his complaint and the discussion we had on 10 May 2024. We hope this statement helps Mr E to understand our decision and we would like to once again offer our condolences on his sad loss.