University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs V complains about the care and treatment provided to her husband Mr V by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust between April and October 2024. Specifically, she says the Trust failed to carry out further investigations in a timely manner following a PET-CT scan which appeared to show a concerning finding.

4. Mrs V says as a result, the Trust missed an opportunity to make an earlier diagnosis of duodenum cancer and her husband died. She says she firmly believes had the Trust carried out investigations in April 2024 then her husband could have received timely treatment and stood a better chance of surviving.

5. Mrs V told us she was financially reliant upon her husband and will struggle to overcome this. Mrs V has suffered emotional distress. She says she will never get over the loss of her husband.

6. As outcomes to her complaint Mrs V would like an apology, service improvements and financial compensation.

7. Mr V was being treated for throat cancer. A PET-CT scan taken in April 2024 showed a concerning finding in his abdomen but the doctor at the time said this was not of concern, they would monitor the finding and carry out another scan three months later.

8. A further scan was not carried out until six months later at which time it was realised Mr V had duodenum cancer. In November 2024, Mr V was told the cancer was inoperable and was offered palliative chemotherapy. Mr V sadly died in February 2025.

11. 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.

12. Clinical negligence takes place when a patient who underwent a treatment becomes injured as a result of that treatment. Failure to carry out appropriate treatment could also amount to negligence.

13. Mrs V tells us due to negligent care by the Trust her husband lost his life prematurely. She says she has experienced emotional distress and has been left financially unstable due to her husband having been the main earner in the household.

14. Mrs V has not specified an exact amount of money she is looking to achieve. Mrs V has told us she is seeking financial compensation in respect of the loss of her husband’s income.

15. While we can make recommendations for financial remedy where we see something has gone wrong, the amounts we recommend are usually more modest than those of the courts because our approach is different to that of the courts.

16. When we consider a financial remedy, it is in relation to the impact on the complainant, whereas the legal process is more punitive and therefore the sums are often higher. A court is best placed to decide on an appropriate award.

17. Mrs V is also seeking an apology and service improvements. Generally, the main outcome for a legal claim in court is financial redress. An apology and service improvements may be achieved as a by-product of the legal process.

18. Mrs V can return to us after taking legal action if there are any outstanding outcomes she would like us to consider. Should Mrs V need to return to us she should do so promptly in view of our 12-month time limit.

19. Mrs V has not told us of any barriers to her being able to explore her legal options. She did advise she could not afford to pay for legal action. We consider Mrs V could contact no win no fee solicitors for advice.

20. We are satisfied there are potential legal routes available for Mrs V to pursue her concerns through. Based on what Mrs V has told us we consider there is a cause of action available in clinical negligence for the issues she has raised.

21. Taking all of the above into account, legal action appears to be a reasonable option for Mrs V to explore. This could achieve the financial remedy she is seeking.

22. We are very sorry to hear about what happened to Mr V and how this has continued to affect, Mrs V. We thank Mrs V for bringing her complaint to us for our consideration. We hope this statement clearly explains why we will not be considering her concerns further at this time.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs V’s complaint about University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We understand Mrs V’s complaint is very important to her and recognise she has been deeply impacted by the sad loss of her husband.

2. We believe there may be a legal remedy available to Mrs V in relation to her complaint about the Trust. Having discussed this with Mrs V we have seen nothing to suggest it would not be reasonable for her to explore this. We have therefore decided not to consider her complaint at this time.