South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs L complains about her interactions with the Trust on 21 May 2024 resulting in the sad death of her brother Mr O on 22 May 2024.

4. She complains that despite his significant deterioration following a GP appointment earlier that day, the Trust did not take her concerns about his breathlessness and heart condition seriously and did not convey her brother to the emergency department. He sadly died at home two hours after the ambulance crew left.

5. Mrs L says her brother may have died in hospital regardless, but had he received treatment his death may have been avoided. She said that she lives with this guilt every day and she now suffers PTSD from the trauma of finding her brother dead.

6. Mrs L wants a substantial financial remedy.

9. 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 in writing with Mrs L 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 in to.

10. Mrs L via her husband Mr L told us to put right her concerns, she wants a compensation package. She could not tell us give us an amount only that this should be a substantial monetary one.

11. We sent Mrs L a link to our severity of injustice scale. Our scale allows us to ensure the recommendations we make are consistent and transparent for everyone who uses our service. The figures included in the scale represent the Ombudsman’s judgement about the sort of sums that are both appropriate and proportionate for us to recommend.

12. Because Mrs L does not know an amount and given that she thinks that her brother’s death was avoidable it is likely that a payment above or in the region of the highest level on our severity of injustice scale would put right her concerns.

13. Financial compensation is something that can be pursued through legal action, specifically through a clinical negligence claim. We have considered the relevant factors and the law. Mrs L is still in time to pursue legal action. The legal route is best suited to achieve the outcomes she seeks.

14. We do not see any barriers, nor has Mrs L highlighted any barriers to prevent her from exploring this option, especially with the ongoing support from her husband. We think that it is reasonable that she does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs L’s complaint about her interactions with the Trust on 21 and 22 May 2024. We consider that Mrs L could take legal action on the matter that she has brough to us. On this basis, we have decided not to consider the complaint further.

2. We were sorry to hear of Mr O’s sad death and how this has had a deep impact on Mrs L and her family. We thank her for bringing her concerns to us and her candour when sharing their experience with us.