3. Mr D complains about Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s (the Trust) care and treatment of his wife, Mrs D, between 1 May 2023 and 3 May 2023.
4. Mr D explained the Trust’s lack of care and treatment caused Mrs D’s death from sepsis.
5. Mr D told us he is s seeking the maximum amount of financial remedy possible.
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. This ensures the Ombudsman does not interfere with matters which are in the remit of the Courts.
9. We have discussed this with Mr D to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.
10. Mr D says that the Trust’s delay in diagnosing and treating Mrs D for sepsis led to her death. If Mr D is correct, he would have a legal cause of action. He can pursue a clinical negligence claim against the Trust, as he is claiming Mrs D’s care fell below the expected standard and was ‘negligent’. He is seeking the maximum amount of compensation possible.
11. There is a clear available legal route which Mr D could use to potentially achieve his desired outcome of financial remedy. Legal action is therefore something we think Mr D should explore, given the serious nature of his concerns, what he believes the significant impact of those was on Mrs D and the financial compensation he is seeking.
12. We asked Mr D if he had any barriers that might prevent him being able to pursue this route. He explained he did not but was unsure whether he wished to pursue this route, or if he wished to go through our process first.
13. We appreciate this is a sensitive and emotional issue for Mr D and understand his hesitance to initiate legal action. It is important to note that our process is not guaranteed to be quick, and Mr D only has one year remaining of the three-year limitation on legal action.
14. As such, we would not wish to deny Mr D the opportunity to take legal action by considering his complaint and causing him to be outside of the three-year limitation for legal action.
15. Additionally, as set out above, the law prevents us from investigating a complaint where the complainant could pursue legal action. In this case, Mr D has a clear legal route, and it appears there are no barriers to his securing representation or pursuing this.
16. A solicitor will be able to advise Mr D whether he has a case, and a court will be able to carefully consider and assess whether Mrs D’s care was negligent, what the impact of that was on her, and determine accountability, including awarding an appropriate amount of compensation if applicable.
17. We appreciate Mr D’s frustration at the length of time this process has taken so far and are sorry for this. As Mr D did not raise barriers and has said he is considering taking legal action in the future, we cannot say that he would be unable to take legal action. Mr D has acknowledged this and has agreed to take legal advice on his complaint.
18. In summary, we consider it is reasonable for Mr D to pursue legal remedy. Mr D can return to our service if he is unable to get legal representation, or if he has outstanding outcomes we can achieve following legal action.
19. If Mr D chooses to bring the complaint back to us, we would advise he does so as promptly as possible. This is because we have a one-year time-limit by which to consider complaints (from the day a person became aware of their reason to complain). We have discretion to set this time-limit to one side if there are strong reasons to do so. We will consider the time it has taken us to consider the complaint and any other delays outside of his control.
20. We are sorry to hear of Mrs D’s death and the devastating impact this has had on Mr D and their children.
1. We have carefully considered Mr D’s complaint about Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust). We were very sorry to hear about the circumstances of his complaint and sympathise with him, and his children, for their loss.
2. We have decided to take no further action because we consider Mr D could take legal action on the matter he has brought to us.