United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

3. Mrs P complains that considering the investigations the United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was doing, it should have diagnosed her husband, Mr P, with a brain tumour and lung cancer sooner than it did.

4. She says if he had been adequately investigated sooner and the delays in diagnosis had not happened, he could have received treatment which may have prolonged his life. She says because of these events she has lost her husband who was her best friend.

5. Mrs P says the Trust never told her husband or her that he had cancer, or the extent of it. She says if they had known earlier, they would have made choices about how to spend his last weeks.

6. She says that after 25 September 2023, once the Trust became aware of the brain tumour, it should have stopped investigations and tests as they were no longer in his best interests, as they knew he was dying. She says in continuing these investigations the Trust denied him dignity, comfort and peace in his final weeks.

7. She says the Trust should have begun palliative care much earlier after his admission on 25 September and did not provide him with adequate pain relief. She says the Trust should have discharged him to a hospice much sooner.

8. She says the lack of palliative care meant her husband was in tremendous pain but unable to communicate this.

9. In bringing this complaint, Mrs P wants the Trust to apologise, acknowledge the impact of the failings, make service improvements and pay a financial remedy for the distress she has experienced and the financial impact to her of her husband’s death.

11. 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 P 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.

12. One of the outcomes Mrs P wants to resolve her complaint is financial remedy. This is something we can potentially achieve if we uphold a complaint.

13. We discussed with Mrs P the level of financial remedy she was seeking to resolve the complaint. She was initially unable to say. We therefore explained how we make decisions about financial remedy and the amounts we might recommend if we upheld or partly upheld her complaint. Mrs P confirmed she is seeking significant levels of financial remedy, for her grief and the financial impact to her due to her husband’s premature death.

14. Considering the nature of Mrs P’s concerns, she could potentially make a legal claim for clinical negligence. We cannot comment on the likelihood of success of legal action, but she is more likely to achieve higher levels of financial remedy through legal action than through our process.

15. Mrs P said she cannot afford legal action. She told us she had not been in contact with any solicitors or taken any legal advice because she knows it can be quite expensive. She said she could not afford to pay privately for legal action.

16. We acknowledge Mrs P’s concerns about the affordability of legal action. Although privately funded legal action may be costly, conditional fee agreements (commonly known as ‘no win no fee’) may be available for clinical negligence cases. This is where a solicitor may be willing to pursue legal action on her behalf without any initial cost to Mrs P. Legal fees would only be paid if the legal action was successful.

17. Mrs P is concerned about taking legal action, that she may find it traumatic having to go through and listen to evidence about what happened to her husband. We understand why she is worried about this and can appreciate it may seem daunting.

18. When we investigate a complaint, it is necessary for the person bringing the complaint to actively engage with us and discuss the details of their concern and what happened. We also produce reports setting out our findings about what happened, which the person needs to read.

19. We know Mrs P found our initial conversation about her complaint difficult and was understandably upset when discussing her concerns and her husband’s death. It is likely Mrs P would find the rest of our process emotionally difficult.

20. We do not provide the same level of support a personal legal representative would. This is because we are entirely independent. We carry out impartial investigations rather than working for a particular party.

21. We can signpost Mrs P to organisations and websites which can assist her in finding suitable representation. Once Mrs P has found suitable representation, it is our understanding she would have a designated legal representative supporting her through the legal process, if she chose to go down that route. As they would be acting on her behalf, she may feel more supported by them through the process.

22. Mrs P told us that if she could find good representation then there would be no barriers to her taking legal action, other than the cost, which we have addressed above.

23. Overall, we are satisfied that Mrs P has an alternative legal route to take to achieve the financial compensation she is seeking. Considering the above, it is reasonable for Mrs P to explore that route further. We have seen no barriers to her doing so. This means we cannot consider Mrs P’s complaint further.

24. However, we note Mrs P is seeking outcomes other than financial compensation. It is important to note that once she has completed her legal action, she has the right to approach us afterwards with any outcomes she has not achieved through the courts.

25. If she were to come back to us, her complaint would be outside our time limit. We would have to consider the time limit at that stage and if there were grounds for us to put it to one side. With that in mind, Mrs P should return to us as soon as possible in those circumstances.

26. We hope any action Mrs P takes resolves the complaint for her.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs P’s complaint about the treatment and care the Trust provided to her husband. We are very sorry to hear how much she has been affected by these events. It was clear when speaking to her how much she still grieves for her husband, who was her best friend.

2. Having looked at the complaint, we have decided to take no further action. This is because we consider she could take legal action on the matter brought to us.