University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

2. Mr R complains the Trust: • did not complete appropriate investigations or treatment into Y’s diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohisiocyosis (HLH) and ignored symptoms that showed her was still unwell, meaning he was discharged when not medically fit • did not recommend that Y attended hospital for further investigations when started further deteriorating at home • The Trust has not recorded accurate information within Y’s records about his condition and has not done what it said it would do within the complaints process and investigations.

3. Mr R says that the actions of the Trust caused Y’s premature death. Mr R says the death of his son has been devastating for him and his family which has caused significant psychological trauma.

4. The outcomes Mr R would like are for the Trust to take accountability for Y’s death and acknowledge its failings, provide an apology, implement service improvements and staff learning. Mr R also wants compensation.

7. The law says we cannot investigation 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.

8. We do not base our decision on how successful legal action would be. Rather we consider whether legal action is, or was, a reasonable option for someone to pursue, or have pursued.

9. We discussed this with Mr R to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he is hoping to achieve. He told us that he has instructed a solicitor who is in the process of conducting their own investigation which has highlighted ‘issues’ in Ys care. He has not indicated how much compensation is he is seeking or what would be appropriate in the circumstances. However, given the details of his complaint, it is likely to be a significant amount.

10. Should Mr R want to bring his complaint back to us, after his legal action has concluded, he should do so as promptly as he can. This is because we have a time limit for looking at complaints which is 12 months from the date the person was aware they had a reason to complain. The complaint is currently out of time but we deem it appropriate to put our time limit aside because the complaint process took longer than 12 months to complete due to a coroners involvement and investigations by the Trust. There is no evidence of delay from Mr R in pursuing his concerns. Therefore, we ask Mr R returns to us within one month of the legal process concluding. If he delays in returning to us, it may mean we cannot consider his complaint.

11. We recognise how important this matter is to Mr R and the significant impact of the events had on him and his family. We thank him for bringing the complaint to our attention.

1. We have carefully considered Mr R’ complaint about the Trust. As Mr R is currently pursuing legal action on the matter he has bought to us, we have decided not to pursue this complaint further.