10. The law says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we consider there is a good reason to do so. We have discussed this with Mr I to understand the reasons why he could not do so. We have also considered the time the Trust has taken in responding to Mr I.
11. Mr I brought his complaint to us on 20 February 2024. He says the Trust did not treat Miss H with care and compassion and it failed to inform he and their family how severe her condition was. He also says that the Trust’s response blames him for not understanding the information given to him on that day.
12. Mr I says that Miss H was distressed leading up to her death. He says the lack of communication meant that he and their family were not prepared for her death, and this has added to their grief.
13. We have determined Mr I’s date of knowledge as 28 July 2022, the date Miss H died. To be within our time limit, Mr I should have complained to us by 28 July 2023. We did not receive Mr I’s complaint until 20 February 2024, seven months outside of our time limit.
14. Mr I has provided us with evidence of local resolution with the Trust. The first complaint letter he wrote is dated 2 February 2023. The Trust responded to this complaint on 6 September 2023 and explained that it received Mr I’s first complaint letter on 13 July.
15. We asked Mr I to confirm when he sent the first letter to the Trust, and he told us that could not recall the exact date it was delivered to the Trust. We asked the Trust to provide us with Mr I’s complaint file. The letter the Trust received is dated 28 June, and the Trust received it on 13 July.
16. We spoke with Mr I on 17 May 2024 to confirm the complaints timeline and he told us that he initially approached the Trust in August 2022 to make his complaint. The Trust provided him with complaint forms to complete. Mr I said the forms were too complicated, so he decided to write his own letter.
17. Following the Trust’s response on 6 September, Mr I contacted our service on 8 September, and we advised him to go back to the Trust with the outstanding issues he had.
18. Mr I wrote a second letter to the Trust, dated 26 September. The Trust sent its final response to Mr I on 16 November.
19. Mr I returned to us on 11 December, and we posted our complaint forms to him the same day. Mr I has dated the complaint form 10 January 2024. We did not receive it until 19 February 2024.
20. Local resolution with the Trust has contributed to four months of the delay. Mr I waited until 11 December to come back to us following the final response on 16 November, almost four weeks. There was then almost two months until we received the completed complaint forms.
21. We asked Mr I to explain why he wrote his complaint on 5 February 2023 but did not deliver this to the Trust until 13 July. Mr I told us that he printed the letter in February but did not know what to do as he was not sure ‘where it would get him’ and was not sure what complaining would achieve.
22. We explained to Mr I that it appears he knew he wanted to complaint in August 2022 and then again in February 2023 and we needed to understand why he waited so long to start the process. He explained that in June 2023, the issues had been building up for so long and playing on his mind, he decided it was the right time.
23. Mr I told us that he wishes he had brought the complaint to the Trust much sooner than he did as he completely disagrees with its responses. Mr I feels that local resolution has added to his delays. I explained that we would always consider the delays taken for local resolution.
Conclusion
24. We appreciate that Mr I is still grieving the loss of Miss H, and this has contributed to his delays. We also understand that complaints can often feel overwhelming, and we would like to reassure Mr I that we have thoroughly considered his reasons for the delays.
25. We recognise the importance of this complaint to Mr I and that he will likely be disappointed with our decision. By law we can only investigate matters that are brought to us within one year of the complainant’s knowledge. Mr I came to us seven months after that time limit.
26. To exercise our discretion, there must be a reasonable justification for the delay. In this case, it appears Mr I was ready to complain in August 2022 and again in February 2023. We have seen no strong reason to waive the time limit in this case.
27. We appreciate the time Mr I has taken to compose his complaint to the Trust and us. We will not be taking any further action on this issue.