Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Miss X complains about the care provided to her mother, Mrs Y, from a GP Practice (the Practice) and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) between 2022 and her death in August 2023.

The Practice 4. Miss X says the Practice failed to address the cause of her mother’s repeated urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and missed opportunities to spot early signs of her mother developing gallstones and take appropriate action to ensure this was treated.

The Trust 5. Miss X says the Trust failed to identify the cause of her mother’s abdominal pains quickly enough and provide treatment for her gallstones. She says the Trust cancelled an operation at short notice which could have saved her mother’s life.

6. Miss X says the failings from each organisation in not acting to address repeated infections and developing gallstones led to her mother’s death, which she says was avoidable with swifter action.

7. Miss X seeks a financial remedy to help cover the costs of her mother’s funeral.

10. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider it is not reasonable for them to do so. We do not base our decision on how successful legal action would be. Rather, we consider whether legal action is a reasonable option for someone to pursue.

11. We discussed this with Miss X to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she is hoping to achieve. Miss X has told us she is seeking financial compensation for the Trust’s actions. She indicated she would be willing to take legal action and has not identified any other outcomes she is seeking.

12. Miss X has explained that she is seeking compensation to help towards her mother’s funeral expenses. She feels her death was avoidable and would not have happened if not for the Practice and Trust failing to identify her mother’s gallstones before the situation became an emergency. She has described how her mother suffered regular urinary tract infections over several years and increasingly severe abdominal pains caused by undiagnosed gallstones. She says her mother’s death would have been entirely preventable with earlier intervention. She describes the devastating effect this has had on her family.

13. We appreciate Miss has identified a financial outcome which potentially would be in line with the sorts of sums we could achieve should we uphold a detailed investigation. While this suggests one possible way forward to resolve her complaint, we recognise it may not be the only route available.

14. The circumstances she describes in her complaint suggest a very serious injustice and one which could potentially match the description of a clinical negligence claim. Consequently, any compensation linked to that claimed injustice from a successful claim would probably be at the high end of such sums. While we can achieve financial remedy in some situations, the Courts can, and often do, achieve much higher sums.

15. The time limits for taking legal action are strict and we are barred from considering any complaint that has been, or may be, subject to legal action. We must consider if us considering a complaint in more detail, which would take time, would result in a complainant losing the opportunity for a better outcome via the Courts.

16. We also believe it is important that, before we consider if we are the right way forward, that Miss X fully explores the potential legal route first. We do not wish her to have any uncertainty later about the path not taken. We cannot give the complaint deeper consideration while there is still some question around this. Before we consider this complaint further, we also wish to be reassured there is not a more suitable way forward for her.

17. Miss X told us she agreed it would be prudent to find out what her options are now, and raised no barriers to doing so, financial or otherwise. Miss X is aware legal advice can be free of charge or offered under a conditional arrangement such as ‘no win, no fee’ services, which would not incur any upfront charges.

18. Should Miss X want to bring her complaint back to us, due to establishing there is no viable legal option, she should do so as promptly as she can. We have a time limit for looking at complaints which is 12 months from the date the person was aware they had reason to complain. While her initial complaint has been brought to us in time, we still need to ensure there are no unaccounted for delays later. Therefore, we ask that she returns to us without delay if she needs to after making legal enquiries.

19. We have considered the relevant factors and law. Miss X could potentially take legal action on the issues she has brought to us. We do not see any barriers to prevent Miss X from exploring this option while she may still have the opportunity, and we think it is reasonable that she does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further at this time.

20. We recognise how important this matter is to Miss X and the significance of the impact the events have had on her and her family. We thank her for bringing this complaint to our attention.

1. We have carefully considered Miss X’s complaint, and we consider Miss X could potentially take legal action on the matter she has brought to us.

2. We were sorry to learn of the circumstances surrounding Miss X’s complaint and how it has affected her and her family. Currently we cannot rule out the possibility that there may be other routes open to her to pursue her concerns which could result in better outcomes for the complaint. We consider it is in her interests to establish if she has any legal options open to her so she can make an informed decision on the best way forward for her.