University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

3. Mrs T complains that the Trust: • did not identify a mass in her husband’s neck from a CT scan on 25 May 2022, • did not take any action on the pain and numbness he reported in his neck and left hand until a second scan was completed on in March 2023 showing the cancer had spread to his neck and brain • has not put in place adequate service improvements to ensure that these events do not happen again.

4. She says there were missed opportunities to provide treatment and monitor the progression of the disease. Mrs T says that due to misreading the scans and failing to provide treatment, her husband died prematurely.

5. The outcomes she seeks are service improvements to avoid the same happening to other patients and compensation.

8. 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.

9. We do not base our decision on how successful legal action would be. Rather we consider whether legal action is, or was, a reasonable option for someone to pursue, or have pursued.

10. We discussed this with Mrs T to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she is hoping to achieve. She told us she is seeking financial compensation along with further service improvements to those the Trust have already put in place.

11. Mrs T has not told us how much compensation she is seeking as she does not know how much would be appropriate given the circumstances. However, given the details of her complaint it is likely to be a significant amount.

12. Mrs T has raised no barriers, financial or otherwise, for her to pursue legal action. She has also informed us she is in the process of making enquiries with Citizens Advice about how she can go about making a legal claim. She is aware legal advice can be free of charge or can be offered under a conditional agreement such as ‘no win, no fee’ services, which would not incur any upfront charges.

13. Should Mrs T 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 a reason to complain. The complaint appears to be in time as she raised her concerns with the Trust and brought the complaint to us within 12 months of Mr T’s death. Therefore, we ask Mrs T returns to us without delay. If she delays in returning to us, it may mean we cannot consider her complaint.

14. We have considered the relevant factors and the law. Mrs T could take legal action on the issues she has brought to us. We do not see any barriers to prevent her from pursing legal action and we think it is reasonable that she does. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint any further.

15. We recognise how important this matter is to Mrs T and the significance of the impact the events had on her and her family. We thank her for bringing the complaint to our attention.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs T’s complaint about University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (the Trust). We consider Mrs T could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us. On this basis we have decided not to consider the complaint further.

2. We understand how important this matter is to Mrs T. We extend our sincere condolences to Mrs T and recognise these events continue to cause her and her family significant upset and distress.