3. Ms U complains about the actions of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). Ms U says the Trust failed to diagnose and treat her parasitic head infection.
4. As a result of the Trust’s failure, Ms U has experienced many uncomfortable ongoing symptoms such as pain, exhaustion, stress and strain, heart arrythmia and psychosis.
5. In resolution to her complaint, Ms U would like financial compensation.
7. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (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 Ms U to understand her circumstances and the outcome she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.
8. Ms U complains the Trust failed to diagnose and treat a parasitic head infection appropriately. She says the Trust failed to complete appropriate investigations for her symptoms which meant it failed to diagnose her condition and would not provide any treatment for her head infection.
9. Ms U says the failures meant she didn’t receive treatment for her symptoms. She experienced pain and suffering for longer than she would have had a diagnosis been given. She tells us she was caused distress and anxiety which worsened her health condition and caused her unnecessary pain and suffering. Ms U tells us financial compensation is important to her for the impact this issue has had. It appears she could potentially pursue a clinical negligence claim
10. We asked Ms U if there were any barriers that would make it difficult for her to pursue legal action. Ms U told us there are no barriers preventing her from exploring legal action. We consider Ms U should contact a number of solicitors about his case and provide them with all of the evidence she has submitted to us. This would give the solicitor the best opportunity to fairly review any possible claim.
11. If there are any outstanding outcomes that cannot be achieved through the legal claim or Ms U would like us to look at service improvements separately after legal action has concluded, she can bring the complaint back to us to consider further.
12. Given the above, we consider it is reasonable for Ms U to explore achieving the financial remedy she is seeking through a legal route. If Ms U is unable to pursue a legal claim, she can bring the complaint back to us to consider further but she should be mindful of our time limit.
13. We thank Ms U for bringing her complaint to us for consideration.
1. We have carefully considered Ms U’s complaint about Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We consider Ms U could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us.
2. We are sorry to hear about Ms U’s experience when undergoing investigations for a parasitic head infection at the Trust. We understand it has been difficult for her and appreciate the time she has taken to discuss this with us.