University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

3. Miss I complains about care and treatment given to her late father, Mr I, while an inpatient with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) in February to March 2021.

4. Specifically, Miss I complains that her father was able bodied when he went into hospital, but when he left he was disabled and passed away shortly after. She also complains the family felt pressured into accepting a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order and were not allowed to visit.

5. Miss I says that the family have been left traumatised by their experiences and this has caused them health issues.

6. Miss I would like the Trust to admit it’s failures, an apology, service improvements and compensation.

7. Miss I tells us her father was admitted to Heartlands Hospital in February 2021. By the time he was discharged, she says he was no longer mobile or able to feed himself.

8. Mr I sadly passed away in April 2021.

9. Miss I submitted a complaint to the Trust on 17 October 2022. The Trust responded to the complaint on 9 August 2023.

10. In November 2023, Miss I’ sister approached PHSO about the complaint, but there was insufficient information provided at this time. Miss I’ sister then submitted a complaint form, but this was not completed fully, and we did not receive a copy of the complaint correspondence. We therefore closed our case in April 2024, until this information was provided. Miss I submitted a completed complaint form in June.

12. 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 Miss I to understand the reasons why she could not do so. We have also considered the time the organisation has taken to respond to her.

13. Miss I told us the point at which she realised she had a reason to complain was October 2022, when she watched a video which highlighted NHS failings. She said this prompted her to make the complaint to the Trust.

14. We think Miss I should have been aware of her reason to complain in April 2021, when her father passed away. This is when we think she should have been aware she had concerns about the care provided to her father, given his deterioration while he was in hospital, followed by his death.

15. We also think Miss I would have been aware of her concerns about the DNR order and not being allowed to visit at the time of the events.

16. This would mean that to be in time, Miss I would have had to bring her complaint to us by April 2022 to be inside of our time limit. She first contacted us in November 2023 and did not submit a properly made complaint until June 2024. Miss I’ complaint is therefore out of time.

17. We have therefore gone on to consider whether there is a good reason why Miss I was unable to bring her complaint to us sooner.

18. We can see from the information provided that Miss I complained to the Trust in October 2022. This is already six months outside of our time limit. We have not seen that any action was taken to progress the complaint until this time.

19. We acknowledge the Trust took 10 months to respond to the complaint. It issued the final response on 9 August 2023.

20. There was then another six month delay before the family brought the complaint to PHSO. Miss I’s sister originally contacted us by telephone in November 2023 and sent the complaint form to us in January 2024.

21. Our records show there were further delays for another six month period when we asked for required information. We did not receive a response until April 2024, when Miss I took over the complaint. We received all the required information in June 2024, making the complaint two years and two months outside our time limit.

22. We have discussed this with Miss I to understand the reasons for these delays. Miss I has told us the family were traumatised by their father’s death, and the events leading up to it. She has said that no one in the family felt able to take on the complaint at the time.

23. Miss I has mentioned the events made her, her mother and her sister very unwell. She has said they all needed time to come to terms with what happened to their father. She has also said that receiving the response from the Trust was very distressing and as a result she had time off from work. Miss I tells us she has not yet been able to return to work.

24. Miss I has said that her sister was off work from November 2023 until June 2024. Miss I has said that both her and her sister has received counselling for stress, anxiety and depression since their father’s passing. She has said that the main reasons for the delays in complaining were their state of mind, and emotional turmoil.

25. We are very sorry to hear of how these events and acknowledge what Miss I’s family have been through and the impact the events had on them. We acknowledge that this would have impacted on Miss I’s progressing her complaint for some time.

26. We acknowledge Miss I and her family were suffering from grief after Mr I’ death. This may have made complaining difficult immediately following his death.

27. We consider that most of the reasons for the delay Miss I’ told us about occurred after the complaint was already outside of our time limit. Even taking into account the grief Miss I experienced, we have not seen any good reason for the long period of time taken to make the complaint to the Trust.

28. For this reason, we have not seen sufficient reason to put our time limit aside.

1. We have carefully considered Miss I’s complaint about University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We acknowledge these events, and Mr I’s death, have been deeply traumatic for Miss I.

2. We have decided this complaint is outside our time limit. We have considered the reasons for this, and we have not seen sufficient reason to put this aside. We are sorry for any additional distress this may cause Miss I.