A practice in the Essex area

3. Mrs P complains the Practice failed to act when her husband’s gastrointestinal symptoms did not improve after September 2021. She is unhappy the Practice said he would have to wait four to six months to see a hospital specialist when he was not able to keep down any food or drink in March 2022.

4. Mr P resorted to seeking private medical care, and on 11 April 2022 was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died on 14 May 2022. Mrs P thinks he could have had treatment and lived longer if the Practice had provided better care. This has added to her grief, and she is struggling to come to terms with her loss. She feels let down.

5. Mrs P wants the Practice to acknowledge and apologise for what happened.

6. Mr P had successful treatment for cancer in his cheek in 2020. Then, in 2021, he developed gastrointestinal symptoms such as struggling to eat and vomiting. A CT scan in August 2021 was reported as normal, and another test diagnosed a hiatus hernia (a bulge in the stomach that causes stomach acid to travel up the throat).

7. Mr P saw GPs at the Practice in September, October, and November 2021. They prescribed medication for his symptoms.

8. He next saw a GP at the Practice in March 2022. He was still suffering with vomiting and abdominal pain and was struggling to eat and drink. After making some changes to his medication the Practice said if it referred him to a hospital gastroenterology doctor (stomach specialist) he would have to wait four to six months before being seen.

9. Because of this potential long wait, Mr P decided to seek private medical care. In April 2022 he saw a private doctor who suspected cancer and within days he was diagnosed with a rare type of stomach cancer. Sadly, Mr P found out on 25 April 2022 that his cancer was terminal. He died at home on 14 May 2022.

11. The law (Health Service Commissioners Act 1993) says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem they wish to complain about.

12. Mrs P’s complaint is about care the Practice provided between September 2021 to March 2022.

13. It is unclear when she first became concerned with the Practice’s actions. It is possible these concerns arose in 2021, but for the purposes of this case we have accepted that by March 2022, she and her husband were unhappy the Practice had not done enough to help. These concerns became stronger in April 2022 when Mr P was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

14. We received Mrs P’s complaint about the Practice on 11 March 2024. This was 12 months outside of our time limit.

15. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us outside our time limit unless we see there is a good reason to do so. We considered the time it took for the complaint to be made and for the Practice to respond. We also considered the complainant’s reasons for the delay.

Time taken for local resolution

16. In November 2022 Mrs P complained to a hospital that had been involved in her husband’s care. It responded in May 2023. This hospital is not part of the complaint to us.

17. Mrs P then complained to the Practice the following year, in January 2024. This was almost 20 months after her husband’s death. She got its final response in March 2024 and came to us a few days later.

18. We can see the Practice responded to the complaint within two months of receiving it. We do not consider this is the reason for the delay in the case reaching us.

Complainants’ explanation for the delay

19. The complaint has reached us 12 months outside our time limit because of the time it took Mrs P to raise concerns with the Practice. We discussed this with her to understand her reasons for the delay.

20. Mrs P told us she was not aware of our time limit for making complaints, and thought if there was a time limit, it was 24 months.

21. She explained she did not complain sooner because she was struggling with grief after her husband’s sudden death and was handling their haulage business.

22. She also said she was reluctant to complain to the Practice because she and her sons are patients there too, and she was worried it would make things awkward. She also thought about her husband’s words before he died, that complaining would not help him.

23. Mrs P described having a ‘breakdown’ in November or December 2023, and she felt she could not put her concerns aside any longer. She says she ended up complaining to the Practice in January 2024, when she ‘felt strong enough, mentally’ because she could not see past its mistakes.

Our conclusions

24. We are sorry to hear of the struggles Mrs P faced after her husband’s death. He was diagnosed with cancer and died within a short period of time, and we can see it came as a significant shock to his family. This must have been an incredibly difficult experience for them.

25. We understand that dealing with a complaint whilst also grieving a death is challenging. We are aware had an impact on Mrs P’s mental health. We are also aware that Mrs P was able to complain to the hospital in November 2022, so we cannot rule out the possibility that she could have also complained to the Practice sooner than January 2024.

26. In terms of Mrs P’s concerns about being a patient at the Practice, we understand her worries that it could have made things awkward. This would not be a good enough reason for us to set aside the time limit however, as it does not persuade us that it was not possible for her to complain sooner.

27. Not being aware of our time limits is also not a good enough reason for us to waive our time limit because it does not explain the extent of the delay in making the complaint to the Practice in the first place.

28. Taking into account the reasons Mrs P has provided, we are not persuaded there is a good enough reason for us to set aside our strict time limit on this occasion. Her reasons do not justify the extent of the delay. We will therefore take no further action.

29. We appreciate this complaint is very important for Mrs P and she and her family have been through a lot. Although this is not the outcome she was hoping for, we hope we have clearly explained the reasons for our decision in this statement.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs P’s complaint about the service the Practice provided to her husband, Mr P, before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We are sorry to hear of Mr P’s death, and the lasting impact this has had on his wife and sons.

2. Mrs P’s complaint falls outside of our time limit. We have decided there is not a good enough reason for us to put our time limit aside. This means we cannot consider the complaint further. We explain our decision in this statement.