3. Mrs H complains the Trust did not take action to act on Mr D’s worsening health, or give him the care and treatment he needed when he was in hospital.
4. She said as a result of what happened Mr D died and she has been left without his support, is severely depressed and suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. The outcomes she seeks are a financial remedy to address the impact of the failings, an acknowledgement of failings and an apology.
7. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider it is not reasonable for them to do so. We do not base our decision on how successful legal action would be. Rather, we consider whether legal action is a reasonable option for someone to pursue.
8. We discussed this with Mrs H’s representative to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We understand Mrs H wants the organisation to acknowledge failings, apologise and provide financial compensation. Financial compensation is something that can be pursued through legal action, specifically through a clinical negligence claim.
9. Following legal proceedings organisations sometimes also make apologies and acknowledge what went wrong. For this reason it is also possible Mrs H may obtain all her outcomes following any legal action.
10. We are generally not able to provide the same levels of financial remedy that a court can. Whilst we are able to make some recommendations for financial remedy, we consider the courts are the correct place for Mrs H to see if she can achieve the outcome she is seeking.
11. Mrs H could consider legal representation under a conditional fee arrangement, commonly known as a ‘no-win-no-fee’ basis, which would not incur any upfront costs.
12. We have considered the relevant factors and the law. Mrs H is still in time to pursue legal action. The legal route is best suited to achieve the outcomes she seeks. We do not see any barriers to prevent her from exploring this option and we think it is reasonable that she does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further.
1. We have carefully considered Mrs H’s complaint about the care and treatment the Trust gave her husband Mr D. We consider Mrs H could take legal action on the matters she has brought to us. On this basis we have decided not to consider the complaint further.
2. We understand how important this matter is to Mrs H. We were sorry to hear that what happened caused her such distress. We explain the reasons for our decision below.