4. Mrs B complains the Trust failed to contact her when her husband was in hospital. Mrs B tells us because she was not the listed NOK, was not involved in decisions about his care and was not able to say goodbye before he died. Mrs B has told us how distressing this was for her and her 12-year-old son.
5. Mrs B says her husband’s NOK was changed to another family when her husband did not have capacity to consent do this.
6.Mrs B is looking for service improvements.
7.On 2 June 2023 Mr B was admitted to hospital with via Accident and Emergency.
8. On 5 June Mr B sadly died.
9. On 21 August Mrs B raised concerns to the Trust. The Trust investigated and issued a response on 2 April 2024 and 2 July.
13.Before we decide if we should conduct a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not found any indications that something has gone wrong.
14.As part of our work, we contacted The Trust to ask for copies of Mr B’s medical records between 2 and 5 June 2023 to allow us to understand what Mr B told the Trust about who he wanted to be involved in his care. The records show Mr B was alert on admission on the 2 June and he had a discussion and understood the Trust’s do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decision due to how unwell he was. Medical records also show Mr B’s daughter was also present for this discussion.
15.We also used the Patients Association guidance on next of kin says 'Your medical next of kin is someone you nominate to receive information about your medical care. Most NHS trusts ask you to nominate your next of kin when you are admitted to hospital. You should provide their name and contact details.
16.We found the Trust appropriately ensured that when Mr B was admitted to hospital, he nominated a NOK. In this case he nominated his daughter.
18.The Trust then shared information about Mr B’s condition with his daughter. This is in line with the patient association guidance. We have not seen evidence which supports the view that Mr B did not have capacity to nominate a NOK as Mrs B maintains.
19. We have not seen indications of failings in the Trust’s actions and will not be taking further action. We know our decision may be upsetting for Mrs B, we hope we have clearly explained our reasons for it.
17. We do not underestimate how distressing it would have been for Mrs B to not be informed of Mr B’s hospital admission, and we are truly sorry she and her son did not get to say goodbye to him. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere condolences to her and your family.
1. We have carefully considered Mrs B’s complaint about East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust).
2. Based on the information we have considered, we have decided not to carry out a detailed investigation into Mrs B’s concerns. This is because we have seen that the Trust followed relevant guidelines when next of kin (NOK) details were given. We are sorry if our decision causes any further distress as this is not our intention.
3. We thank Mrs B for the effort she has gone to in bringing us her complaint to us. We know this has not been easy for her and her family following their recent bereavement and we are sorry to hear all they have been through.