University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

3. Mr S complains about the Trust and the care and treatment it provided to his wife, Mrs S, between 8 June 2023 and her death on 22 July 2023.

4. Specifically, he complains that the Trust discharged Mrs S from the Royal Stoke Hospital on 15 June 2023 without receiving the results of a bone marrow test.

5. He says that without the results the Trust could not confirm his wife’s diagnosis or determine how unwell she was. He also says its plans to monitor his wife as an outpatient were inadequate, given that she was severely immunocompromised and susceptible to infection. He tells us it was not in his wife’s best interests to discharge her home, and the Trust therefore should not have discharged her.

6. Mr S also complains that when his wife was readmitted on 26 June 2023 she was placed on a ward with other vulnerable patients, despite her immunocompromised condition and known risk of infection.

7. He tells us that the Trust failed to keep her away from the threat of infection and that his wife’s death was preventable.

8. Mr S wants service improvements and a financial remedy to put things right.

11. 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 discussed this with Mr S 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.

12. We discussed this with Mr S to understand the circumstances and outcomes he wants. We understand that Mr S wants service improvements and financial compensation to put things right.

13. Financial compensation is something that can be pursued through legal action, specifically through a clinical negligence claim. Following legal proceedings, sometimes organisations will also make improvements to the services it provides. This means that it is also possible that Mr S can obtain all his outcomes following any legal action.

14. We are generally not able to provide the same levels of financial remedy that a court can. Whilst we can make some recommendations for financial remedy, we consider the courts are the correct place for Mr S to see if he can achieve the outcome he is seeking.

15. We have considered the relevant factors and the law. Mr S is still in time pursue legal action. The legal route is best suited to achieve the outcomes she seeks. We do not see any barriers to prevent him from exploring this option and we think it is reasonable that he does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Mr S’s complaint about the care and treatment the Trust gave Mr S’s wife, Mrs S. We consider that Mr S could take legal action on the matter that he has brought to us. On this basis we have decided not to consider the complaint further.

2. We were sorry to hear of Mrs S’s sad death and how this has impacted Mr S and his family. We thank him for bringing his concerns to us and his candour when sharing their experience with us.