8. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider it is not reasonable for them to do so. 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.
9. We discussed this with Mrs L to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she is hoping to achieve. Mrs L has told us she is seeking financial compensation for the Trust’s actions.
10. Mrs L says the Trust’s actions negatively impacted her mother’s health and contributed to her death. Mrs L tells us her mother suffered harm as a result of the Trust’s actions. This is something that can be pursued through legal action, specifically through a clinical negligence claim. Should the claim be successful, the courts can award financial compensation.
11. We have shared information with Mrs L relating to our guidance on financial remedy and discussed this with her. We have also explained to Mrs L what we need to consider if we think there is a possibility a complainant can take legal action. Mrs L has told us she would be seeking the maximum amount achievable by the Ombudsman, which is upwards of £12,500. This is something that can be pursued by legal action.
12. Mrs L explained that she has not explored legal action as she wanted to wait for the outcome of an Ombudsman investigation. We have discussed this with Mrs L and explained our position in relation to the law, which says we are not able to consider a complaint where we think it is reasonable for a person to pursue legal action.
13. We appreciate Mrs L has already worked hard to progress her complaint. Based on what she has told us, we cannot see anything preventing her from exploring whether legal action is available to her, and it can achieve the outcome she is seeking in full.
14. We are also mindful that Mrs L is currently within the usual three-year statutory time limit to pursue a clinical negligence claim and consider it is important she fully explores her options now, whilst within this time limit.
15. Mrs L raised no barriers to pursuing legal advice, financial or otherwise. Mrs L is aware legal advice can be free of charge or offered under a conditional arrangement such as ‘no win, no fee’ services, which would not incur any upfront charges.
16. Mrs L is aware if the court does not achieve this outcome she is seeking, she may return to us and ask us to investigate her complaint.
17. Should Mrs L want to bring her complaint back to us, she should do so as promptly as she can. This is because we have a time limit for looking at complaints which is 12 months from the date the person was aware they had reason to complain. We are mindful should she return; she will be outside of this time limit. Therefore, we ask that she returns to us without delay. We do have some discretion when applying our time limit but there has to be good reason for us to put this to one side which we will consider should she come back to us.
18. We have considered the relevant factors and law. We find Mrs L could take legal action on the issues she has brought to us. We do not see any issue that may prevent Mrs L from pursuing legal action and we think it is reasonable that she does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further.
19. We recognise how important this matter is to Mrs L and the significance of the impact the events have had on her and her family. We thank her for bringing this complaint to our attention.