King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

2. Miss A complains about the Trust’s care and treatment of her brother, Mr A, in the last few days of his life. Miss A complains:

• Mr A was not correctly cared for before his condition got worse and he got sepsis (a serious reaction to an infection) • Mr A was not given enough fluids • the Trust took too long to handle her complaint and she still does not know what happened to her brother in the last few days of his life.

3. Miss A says her brother may have lived longer if he had the right treatment. She says she thought her brother would recover and be discharged from hospital. She says she has experienced much pain, stress and trauma affecting her mental health and she now has depression.

4. Miss A wants the Trust to answer her questions and say why its investigation took so long. She also wants an apology from the Trust and compensation for her brother’s death and for the distress she experienced.

5. Mr A had a serious neurological condition.

6. He was admitted to hospital in January 2019 after having a seizure at home.

7. In hospital, he had seizures and was treated in the critical care unit as he had difficulty breathing.

8. In March 2019, Mr A’s blood pressure dropped. Mr A got sepsis and died a few days later.

9. Miss A complained to the Trust on 21 May 2019. The Trust replied in August. Miss A spoke to the Trust about her concerns on 31 October. The Trust had a meeting with Miss A on 1 November 2020 and she waited for another written response.

10. As she had not got a response despite chasing the Trust, Miss A complained to us on 27 July 2021. We made enquiries with the Trust between July 2021 and November 2022. The Trust sent its final response to Miss A on 1 November 2022 and she contacted us soon after.

12. 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 unreasonable in the circumstances. We spoke about this with Miss A to understand what she wants to achieve. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

13. Miss A says the Trust did not give her brother the right care and asks if he would have recovered or lived longer if he got the right treatment. Miss A says she wants financial compensation for her brother’s death. In line with our legislation, we have considered whether it would be reasonable for her to look into legal action to get the compensation she wants.

14. Miss A is asking why the Trust’s investigation was not complete and why it took so long. She also wants an apology from the Trust. Making a clinical negligence claim could achieve all of this.

15. Miss A says speaking to a solicitor would be stressful. While we appreciate this, a solicitor would be acting for Miss A and in her best interests.

16. Miss A is asking for more financial compensation than we normally recommend if we found failings. A court is generally able to recommend more compensation than we can.

17. We think it is reasonable for Miss A to take legal action to achieve what she wants. A court can look at the complaint, decide if there has been clinical negligence and give financial compensation. Miss A can bring her complaint back to us to look at any other issues that have not been considered by the court.

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Miss A’s complaint about Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear about Miss A’s experience. We think Miss A can take legal action on her complaint and for this reason we are not investigating it further.