A practice in the Dudley area

4. Mrs L complains that the Practice should have referred her mum, Mrs E, for secondary care investigations sooner than it did.

5. Mrs L believes a prompter referral would have led to her mum receiving her cancer diagnosis, and the required treatment and care sooner. Mrs E’s diagnosis is terminal, and Mrs L believes she may live longer had the Practice referred her mum before it did.

6. By bringing the complaint to us, Mrs L is seeking compensation on behalf of her mum, and service improvements.

7. Mrs E, who was 87 at the time of these concerns, first saw a doctor at the Practice in the early summer of 2024. She was suffering with a rash on her cheek.

8. In total, she appears to have attended six appointments at the Practice, in an approximate three month period, with doctors and other types of clinicians.

9. During these investigations, the Practice sought guidance from its local NHS trust by way of ‘Advice and Guidance referrals’. The dermatology team at the local trust originally recommended that the Practice attempted to treat the rash, primarily by way of antibiotics.

10. In the autumn of 2024, and after a deterioration of the symptoms, the trust asked the Practice to make an urgent suspected cancer referral for Mrs E.

11. Following the referral to her local Trust, doctors performed biopsies which confirmed that Mrs E had a T-cell lymphoma. This is a rare form of cancerous lymphoma which affects the immune system.

12. Sadly, this is a terminal diagnosis, and Mrs L tells us that doctors have given her mum between ‘one and five years to live’.

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.

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

16. We have discussed this with Mrs L to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants.

17. In our most recent conversations with Mrs L, she told us that compensation is the primary outcome she is hoping to achieve by bringing this complaint to us. She also told us that, having recently discussed the issue with other family members, they want to seek legal advice on this matter.

18. Given the nature of the complaint, it appears that she might be able to pursue a cause of action in negligence against the Practice. If successful, this may result in her receiving compensation.

19. We recognise that compensation is not the sole outcome Mrs L wants as a result of bringing the complaint to us. She also wants the Practice to implement improvements.

20. Although the courts cannot order the Practice to make improvements, this may be achieved indirectly because of legal action. The Practice might also offer an apology if it admits liability or is required to provide a financial remedy.

21. For the reasons outlined above, it therefore seems that the reasonable next step for Mrs L would be to look into legal action, and we wish her well with this.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs L’s complaint about the Practice.

2. We are sorry to hear of her mum’s, Mrs E’s, cancer diagnosis. This will have undoubtedly been extremely upsetting for Mrs E, Mrs L and the family as a whole.

3. We consider that Mrs L could take legal action on the matters she has brought to us, and we believe this to be the most suitable course of action for her and the family to take.