Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs P complains about aspects of care and treatment Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust provided to her mother, Mrs D, between November and December 2022. Specifically, she says the Trust: • failed to administer her mother intravenous steroids on 28 November 2022 • delayed arranging an urgent CT scan from 28 November 2022 • delayed providing her mother’s diagnosis of giant cell arteritis.

4. Mrs D lost her vision in December and deteriorated following this. She died on 30 January 2023 and Mrs P says the Trusts actions contributed to her death. This caused her immense distress and suffering.

5. Mrs P would like the Trust to apologise, acknowledge where it got things wrong and provide a financial remedy.

7. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mrs P 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.

8. Mrs P explains she feels there has been negligence and the Trust’s actions caused her mother’s death.

9. We spoke with Mrs P to understand if she had thought about taking legal action or spoken to any solicitors. Our legislation says somebody should pursue legal action in the first instance before coming to us if this is an option for them.

10. Mrs P explained when she first spoke with the Trust, it told her if she was not happy, she could approach PHSO. She says she was not aware or told at any point she had the right to contact a legal representative, and she thought she was following the correct process.

11. We recognise this and acknowledge Mrs P was not aware at that time she could take legal action. We do not think this would now be a barrier to prevent her from taking legal action. We have now been able to explain our legislation and the process to her and advise her this is an option. This option is still available for her to explore.

12. Regarding outcomes, Mrs P is seeking a financial remedy, acknowledgement of failings and an apology. We recognise she says it is not her aim to seek as much compensation as possible, and that it is also important to her to get an acknowledgement of failings. We have explored with Mrs P the amount of remedy she is seeking to help with our consideration. Mrs P says it is very difficult to put a price on what happened, but she would estimate around £50,000 to £75,000.

13. In line with our severity of injustice scale, a tool we use when deciding on amounts for a financial remedy, it is very unlikely we would be able to achieve a figure close to this sum of money. This figure is more in keeping with the amounts which are best placed to be achieved via legal action. The remedies we generally able to achieve are substantially lower than this. As a result, we think this further supports the decision Mrs P should explore legal action.

14. Mrs P hasn’t currently taken any steps to consider legal action, or spoken to any solicitors, as she was not aware this was an option. Mrs P could explore legal action in the first instance, and she would be able to return to us if there were any outcomes remaining. A by product of legal action could also deliver outcomes such as an acknowledgement of failings or an apology.

15. Overall, we have not seen any significant barriers to Mrs P pursuing legal action. Mrs P currently has not exhausted looking into this and is seeking a significant financial remedy. Pursuing a legal remedy may mean she has a dedicated solicitor with a vested interested in winning the case. This could mean she feels more supported as we are an independent organisation that cannot take sides.

16. Mrs P can return to us if her circumstances change, legal action is not successful, or it does not achieve the outcome she is looking for. We hope we have clearly explained the reasons for our decision and thank Mrs P for contacting us.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs P’s complaint about the Trust. We were sorry to learn of the reasons for Mrs P’s complaint and would like to offer our condolences for the very sad loss of her mother. We consider Mrs P could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us at this time.

2. We are mindful how important Mrs P’s complaint is to her and thank her for taking the time to tell us about the difficult experience she has been through.