Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust

3. Ms R complains on behalf of her son, E, about the care and treatment he received from the Trust. She says:

• the Trust did not explain when the risks when it intubated E on 22 and 24 August 2019 and this caused subglottic stenosis and cysts • the Trust missed a diagnosis of chronic lung disease • the Trust misdiagnosed E with laryngomalacia on 19 March 2020 • there was a delay in the Trust diagnosing reflux and a reactive airway

4. Ms R said the Trust intubating her son caused subglottic stenosis and cysts. Ms R said because of this, her son has had to have multiple operations and nearly died. Ms R said the Trust misdiagnosing laryngomalacia and missing diagnoses has been stressful for her and has impacted her son’s health. Ms R said she has had no life for nearly four years and has been unable to work as she has had to look after her son.

5. Ms R said the actions of the Trust have caused stress, trauma, sadness, and pain to both her and her son. Ms R said they are also left with uncertainty on what E’s future health looks like and what the impacts of the delayed diagnoses’ will be.

6. By bringing this complaint to us Ms R would like financial remedy, service improvements and acknowledgement of failings.

9. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Ms R 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 to look in to.

10. Ms R said the Trust intubated her son without explaining to her the risks involved in this procedure. Ms R said the Trust caused acquired subglottic stenosis and cysts when it intubated her son. The subglottic is the narrowest part of a child’s airway and sits below the voice box. Subglottic stenosis causes this part of the airway to narrow further.

11. Ms R also said the Trust missed a diagnosis of chronic lung disease in her son and misdiagnosed him with laryngomalacia. Laryngomalacia is a condition when the tissue above the vocal cords is floppy and blocks the airway causing noisy breathing.

12. Lastly, Ms R said there was a delay in the Trust diagnosing her son with reflux and a reactive airway. A reactive airway is when the tubes that carry air to and from your lungs swell, causing the airway to narrow.

13. Considering the issues Ms R is raising, and the impact she says these have had (as set out in paragraph four), we consider Ms R could have a legal claim of clinical negligence available.

14. On 11 June 2024 Ms R informed us that she had met with a law firm to discuss her complaint. Ms R said the law firm agreed to take her case on and she has signed the paperwork with the firm for legal action to begin. Ms R told us this case has been accepted on a no-win no fee basis.

15. We are satisfied an alternative legal remedy is available to Ms R and she is already taking this route. Once any legal action has been concluded, Ms R is able to ask us to look again at her complaint in respect of any outcomes that have not been achieved through legal action. We have told Ms R about our time limit for looking at complaints and advised her to return to us promptly.

1. We have carefully considered Ms R’s complaint about Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are very sorry to hear of the circumstances that led Ms R to approach us. We recognise the impact Ms R’s complaint has caused to both herself and her son, and we do not wish to dimmish the impact these events have had.

2. We understand Ms R is currently exploring legal action in relation the matters she has brought to us. Because of this, we are unable to consider Ms R’s complaint about her son’s care and treatment at present.