London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

The Care Home 3. Mrs D complains that from 4 to 16 August 2022, during her mother’s respite placement:

• staff failed to medically review her mother, meaning antibiotics were not prescribed for an infection in her left foot, causing swelling and pain and affecting her mobility • her mother fell out of her wheelchair, causing a skin tear to her right shin and reducing her mobility more • her mother fell out of bed causing injury to her head and the top of her spine.

4. Mrs D says the lack of treatment contributed to her mother’s death in October 2022, because her infection got worse. She says if the Care Home had given better care, the injuries could have been avoided and she would not have needed to go to hospital. She says she feels very guilty for putting her mother in the Care Home.

5. Mrs D wants compensation for the costs of having to care for her mother at home and visiting her in hospital. She also wants an apology from the Care Home and for it to accept its failings in her mother’s care.

The Trust 6. Mrs D complains that from August to October 2022, during her mother’s hospital admission:

• staff did not change the dressing or monitor the skin tear on her mother’s right shin • the tissue viability nurse (specialising in wound care and the health of skin) was not called until 22 days after she was admitted, and this caused the wound to ulcerate, reduced her mother’s mobility and she became bed-bound • the operation was cancelled three times despite being marked as urgent, and her mother was kept nil my mouth (not being allowed to take any food, drink or medication by mouth) three times when already losing weight because of the infection • she was discharged incorrectly, which delayed the family getting input from the GP, and she was discharged without an appropriate package of care in place so she had to pay around £2,000 in care fees.

7. Mrs D says her mother was traumatised during her admission and this caused the family distress. She believes the Trust’s actions caused the premature death of her mother.

8. Mrs D wants compensation, for the Trust to accept its failings in her mother’s care and an apology.

11. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mrs D to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

12. In this case, Mrs D claims that if her mother had got better treatment for the infection in her left foot while at the Care Home, she would not have needed hospital admission. She says the negligent care from both organisations led to the death of her mother.

13. Mrs D told she wants a large amount of compensation (more than £10,000) to address personal financial loss she experienced while her mother was under the care of the Care Home and the Trust. She also wants compensation for the psychological injury, stress and upset the events caused and continue to cause her family. We think Mrs D has a possible legal route available and could make a clinical negligence claim.

14. The amount Mrs D wants is more than the amounts we normally recommend, but they could be achieved by a clinical negligence claim.

15. We understand why Mrs D came to us with her complaint, but we cannot consider a complaint if there is a legal route available to address the concerns.

16. Mrs D told us there are no barriers or significant reasons to stop her from speaking to a solicitor about her complaints. She has already spoken to one solicitor who did not take her case because of her mother’s age. Although one solicitor has rejected her case, other options may still be available.

17. Once Mrs D has explored the legal route in full, if she cannot take legal action, she may come back to us and we could consider her complaint again. The law also says people should bring their complaint to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the need to complain. We are able to put this time limit to one side if we think there are reasonable delays. Mrs D should come back to us quickly if she cannot take legal action.

18. In summary, we appreciate Mrs D’s strong feelings about the complaint and do not wish to lessen the impact the events had on her. We hope we have explained the thorough consideration we have given to our decision and clearly explained the reasons for it.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs D’s complaint about a care home in the Ealing area (the Care Home) and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust). We have decided to take no further action because Mrs D can take legal action on the matters she has brought to us.

2. We have told Mrs D that if legal action does not achieve all the outcomes she wants, she can bring the complaint back to us to consider further. We offer Mrs D our sincere condolences for her loss and thank her for giving us the opportunity to consider her complaint.