Barts Health NHS Trust

Claimed failings

3. Miss K complains about the care and treatment the Trust has provided to her son, Master K, over a number of years. She specifically complains about the following:

Continence care (September 2019 to March 2023): • the Trust did not provide her son with enough products • the Trust often provided him with incorrect products • the Trust offered inadequate assistance to her and her son • the Trust refused her requests for a new continence nurse and • her son’s continence nurse had a poor attitude towards special educational needs and disability (SEND) children.

A&E visit (20 September 2022): • the Trust failed to admit her son to hospital after a long wait in A&E.

Inpatient admission (21 September 2022 to 12 October 2022): • the Trust initially focussed on her son’s special needs when he clearly had a physical illness • the Trust did not give her son antivirals or antibiotics • the Trust missed medication doses, failed to attend to his drip alarm and turned the alarm off • the Trust did not provide appropriate pain relief • the circumstances surrounding an MRI on 23 September 2022 • the Trust continued to perform an MRI scan for four hours when she had only consented for a two-hour scan • there was a lack of communication with her during the procedure and • something happened to her son during the MRI that the Trust has not told her about • the Trust communicated poorly with her about her son’s condition • staff were badly informed about SEND children and • the Trust failed to discuss her son’s management at home or provide him with appropriate equipment prior to discharge.

Physiotherapy (12 October 2022 to 11 January 2023): • the Trust inappropriately stopped her son’s physiotherapy on 11 January 2023 • a person attended her home with the physiotherapist and refused to show her their identification and • the Trust refused to provide an appropriate bed for his appointments.

Safeguarding: • her son’s continence nurse inappropriately raised child protection concerns with the local authority and • a hospital consultant inappropriately raised further child protection concerns with the local authority.

Complaint handling: • the Trust took too long to respond to her complaint, and we (PHSO) had to send multiple warning letters to the Trust about this • the complaint responses are incorrect, do not address all the issues raised and are very brief and • the Trust has treated her and her son differently since she raised her complaint.

Claimed impact

4. Miss K says the poor continence care means she must now pay for her son’s continence goods herself as she refuses to engage with the Trust any further. She also says she found dealing with her son’s continence nurse harrowing.

5. Miss K says she had to take her son home and return with him the next day when the Trust did not admit him to hospital from A&E and this caused them distress. She is also concerned the delay may have affected his health.

6. Miss K says her son was often left crying and in pain during his inpatient admission. She says he was left severely ill after the MRI and was bedbound when he was discharged from hospital. She says his mobility was significantly affected because the Trust failed to discuss or provide for his needs. She has told us his recovery was delayed because he did not have the right equipment.

7. Miss K says her and her son experienced a severe amount of disability discrimination from the Trust’s staff during this admission. She says this had a profound and traumatising effect on them and has destroyed their family life. She says she now has absolutely no confidence in the Trust and has had to pursue private medical care due to this.

8. Miss K says the withdrawal of physiotherapy means her son was left without the input he needed which impacted his recovery.

9. Miss K says the inappropriate safeguarding referrals caused her a great deal of distress.

10. Miss K says the Trust’s complaint handling added to her distress and left her with unanswered concerns.

Outcomes sought

11. Miss K would like the Trust to apologise, accept responsibility for what happened to her and her son and pay a financial remedy.

12. Miss K has told us her son has learning difficulties and several health issues. He is under the care of several clinical teams and services. He has severe language issues, social communication difficulties, and is pre-verbal using some verbal communication and direct gestures to communicate.

14. 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 do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

15. There is an alternative legal route available to Miss K in relation to parts of her complaint. This being a potential claim for clinical negligence. This is because Miss K is seeking a significant financial remedy and claims the Trust provided poor care and treatment to her son which negatively impacted his health.

16. Miss K previously approached us about her complaint in October 2023. She told us she was seeking £10,000 in compensation from the Trust. We decided it was reasonable for her to explore taking legal action against the Trust. We advised her to explore this option and said she could return to us if needed.

17. Miss K returned to us in October 2024. She told us that she has not yet fully explored the legal route. We understand a solicitor has not yet considered her case or provided her with any legal advice. Miss K has told us she wishes to explore whether she can take legal action against the Trust and has recently started to contact solicitors about this again.

18. As Miss K is still actively pursuing the legal route, we have decided to close her case with us. Miss K can bring her complaint back to us if she is unable to secure legal representation or if legal action goes ahead but does not achieve all the outcomes she is seeking. If Miss K wishes to return to us, she should do this as soon as possible and without any undue delay.

19. This is because the law also says complaints should be brought to us within one year of a person becoming aware of the problem they are complaining about. Miss K’s complaint about the Trust is already outside this one-year time limit. We can look at complaints brought to us after one year but only if we see a good reason for the delay in coming to us.

20. We recognise Miss K cannot pursue legal action in relation to some parts of her complaint such as the Trust’s complaint handling. This is because it is not possible to take legal action to remedy distress or inconvenience. However, we have decided to close the whole case while Miss K seeks legal advice. This is because the parts of her complaint where she may be able to take legal action are the most serious and have the most significant claimed injustice.

1. We have carefully considered Miss K’s complaint about Barts Health NHS Trust (the Trust). We are very sorry to hear of the concerns she has about the care her son, Master K, has received from the Trust.

2. We have decided not to consider Miss K’s complaint any further at this time. This is because she has told us she is currently pursuing legal action against the Trust in relation to parts of her complaint.