Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust

3. Mrs L complains about the following aspects of her son’s care and treatment at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust. She complains it:

• did not provide him with sufficient physiotherapy after left hip reconstruction surgery on 18 July 2023, and instead based follow-up care on an outdated Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) dated May 2022 rather than the required treatment to aid recovery from surgery • failed to make suitable recommendations for provision of an access ramp to their home • issued her with an unacceptable behaviour notice.

4. Mrs L says the Trust’s actions delayed her son’s recovery and may have resulted in a permanent lack of mobility. She says the unacceptable behaviour notice was inappropriate and caused her additional frustration.

5. Mrs L wants the Trust to provide her son with the physiotherapy he needs following his surgery. She would also like a financial remedy.

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. We have considered Mrs W’s 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.

9. Mrs L says the Trust carried out reconstructive surgery on her son’s left hip on 18 July 2023. She says the Trust was negligent in the treatment of her son following the operation. She says that prior to the operation he could stand and walk. Since his operation both of these tasks are more difficult.

10. Mrs L is not complaining about the operation itself. But she says that following his treatment her son’s paediatrician and the orthopaedic surgeon gave instructions to carry out specific physiotherapy treatment. However, she says the Trust instead followed the care instructions on an outdated EHCP from May 2022.

11. Mrs L says that the Trust lack of action has substantially damaged her son’s chances of living as normal life as possible and he has been unable to gain his previous mobility.

12. Legal action could provide the financial remedy sought by Mrs L. She could pursue a clinical negligence claim to seek that compensation.

13. We discussed this option with Mrs L. She confirmed she believes her son has been permanently damaged by the actions of the Trust, and she believes this is due to negligence. We therefore consider she did not tell us about any obstacles to prevent her pursuing a legal claim.

14. This is not the only resolution Mrs L seeks. While there may not be a specific legal route to achieve those other things, they might be resolved as a by-product of a legal challenge.

15. Should Mrs L explore legal action but find she is unable to proceed, or if there are outcomes remaining after she has taken legal action, she can ask us again to consider her complaint. If she does that later, she should do so without any delay.

16. In summary, we have decided not to proceed with the complaint as a legal route is available to Mrs L. We are grateful to Mrs L for taking the time to tell us about the difficult experiences she had. What happened must have been very distressing for her.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs L’s complaint about Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (the Trust). We consider Mrs L could take legal action on the most important matter part of her complaint, by way of a clinical negligence claim. While there does not appear to be a legal avenue open for some parts of her complaint, we do not consider it would be sensible to consider those remaining parts in isolation.

2. We are sorry to hear about the events that led to Mrs L’s complaint and the obvious distress this has caused her and her son.