A practice in the Birmingham area

3. Dr F complains despite attendances at the emergency department on 29 and 30 January, on 1 and 3 February 2023, the Trust assigned his son green triage categorisation, failing to identify his sepsis.

4. Dr F complains on 3 February 2023, a Practice GP refused to refer his son to hospital, failing to identify or act upon concerns of sepsis, instead misdiagnosing him with hand, foot and mouth syndrome.

5. Dr F says he and his wife are still enduring the pain of losing their son, after watching him suffer when no one was listening. He says they are both reliant on medication to sleep and have lost confidence in being able to have another child or seek any form of joy.

6. To resolve his complaint, Dr F would like to achieve monetary compensation and have the organisations acknowledge they failed and make changes in their future service.

9. The law that governs the Ombudsman’s powers, the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action to achieve the remedy they seek, unless we consider this unreasonable in the circumstances.

10. 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.

11. We discussed this with Dr F who told us he is currently in the process of a clinical negligence claim. He explained he has supplied his solicitor all the information they need, and he is waiting to receive a legal opinion and response to his case.

12. We recognise Dr F is seeking mixed outcomes, not just a financial remedy. It is possible the alternative outcomes he seeks could be achieved via the legal process, depending upon the process followed. This would be something for Dr F to ask and explore with his solicitor.

13. As Dr F not only has the option to take legal action but is currently doing so, in line with the law, we have decided not to consider his complaint further.

1. We thank Dr F for bringing his complaint to us. We are sorry and incredibly saddened to have read about what happened. We extend our condolences to Dr F and his wife on the loss of their beloved son. We understand how important this complaint is to them.

2. We have decided not to consider Dr F’s complaint any further, as he is currently pursuing it via legal action.