Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Miss G complains that clinicians from a hospital at the Trust did not properly monitor her eye condition and did not respond to warning signs which suggested an impending perforation during January 2022. Miss G lost her right eye and has experienced ongoing physical and emotional distress since. She wants the Trust to acknowledge its failings and make improvements to its services. She also seeks a financial remedy.

4. Miss G arrived at the hospital on 4 January 2022 for an urgent ophthalmology review. She had a rare eye infection of her right eye which had a poor prognosis. Doctors decided against surgery because of the risks attached. On 11 January Miss G developed a perforated cornea. This left Miss G with serious damage to her eye, leading to complete loss of vision.

5. On 22 December 2022 Miss G’s mother, Mrs G, complained to the Trust on her behalf. The Trust had not replied by the end of September 2023, so Mrs G contacted us. This led to the Trust responding to Mrs G on 2 November 2023. Mrs G then waited until 19 September 2024 to contact us again to say she remained dissatisfied.

7. The law says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we consider there is a good reason to do so. We have discussed this with Mrs G to understand the reasons why her daughter could not do so. We have also considered the time the organisation has taken to respond to the complaint.

8. Miss G’s complaint to us is out of time. The events she complained about happened more than two and a half years before she complained to us.

9. Mrs G complained to the Trust within one year of the events in question. This was in line with the NHS complaints process. The Trust then took eleven months to respond. We do not consider Mrs G was responsible for these delays.

10. We asked Mrs G to explain the reason for the delays between November 2023 and September 2024. She was able to provide reasons why she could not contact us sooner for only part of that time. She explained that there were various family health problems up until January 2024 that meant she was prevented from pursuing her complaint. She said she had been too busy to complain after that point, particularly with her work.

11. We cannot see a good reason why Mrs G was prevented from contacting us between February and September 2024. We have decided not to start a detailed investigation of this complaint.

12. Clearly, Miss G’s health problems have been devastating for her and her family. We appreciate our decision not to investigate further is likely to be a source of further distress for the family. We hope was have clearly explained why we are unable to waive the time limit in this case.

1. We have carefully considered Miss G’s complaint about the organisation. We were sorry to read about her serious health problems.

2. The complaint falls outside of our time limit, and we have decided there is no good reason for us to put our time limit aside to consider it further. We recognise this will be disappointing for Miss G and her family.