Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs H complains about the care Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) provided to her mother between March and April 2023. She says the district nurses failed to identify her mother’s leg wound was infected and escalate to a doctor so they could prescribe antibiotics.

4. As a result, Mrs H says her mother contracted sepsis, which damaged her vital organs. She says this led to her mother’s sad death. Mrs H says this has caused her to experience depression and anxiety.

5. Mrs H is seeking a financial remedy.

7. 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. We have discussed this with Mrs H to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

8. Mrs H says the Trust failed to properly care for her mother’s leg wound and this led to her contracting sepsis. She says this resulted in her mother’s sad death and she is seeking a financial remedy. It appears Mrs H could potentially pursue a clinical negligence claim to achieve the outcome she is seeking. In line with our legislation, we have considered whether it would be reasonable for her to do so.

9. Mrs H says she is seeking a financial remedy of more than £25 000. We do not consider compensation in the same way as the courts and the amounts we can recommend are typically more modest in comparison. It is unlikely we could achieve the level of financial remedy Mrs H is looking for. A court would be able to carefully consider and assess an appropriate amount of compensation. We would not want to disadvantage Mrs H by ‘under settling’ her complaint when it would be more appropriate for her to go through a legal process.

10. Mrs H says she is not in a financial position to pay for a solicitor. She says there are no other barriers to prevent her from pursuing a legal claim.

11. We appreciate Mrs H’s concerns about the affordability of pursuing legal action. Clinical negligence claims can often be funded can by way of a ‘no win no fee’ agreement. A solicitor would be able to confirm if they can take on Mrs H’s claim on this basis.

12. We recognise Mrs H has experienced significant distress. It is likely we would require the same amount of information and input from Mrs H as a solicitor would. We are an independent and impartial service, whereas a solicitor would be acting on her behalf and would be able to support her through the process.

13. Given Mrs H is seeking a large financial remedy, we consider it would be reasonable for her to obtain legal advice to see if she could potentially achieve the outcomes she is seeking via the courts. If there are any outstanding outcomes that cannot be achieved through the legal claim or if Mrs H finds she is unable to pursue legal action after obtaining advice, she can bring the complaint back to us to consider further.

14. We understand how important Mrs H’s complaint is to her and we thank her for taking the time to bring it to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs H’s complaint about Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are very sorry to hear about Mrs H’s concerns about her mother’s care and appreciate it has been an incredibly distressing time for her.

2. We consider Mrs H could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us, and we will therefore not take any further action at this stage.