Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

3. Mr B complains the Trust prematurely discharged his father, Mr K, in January 2024. He also complains it did not give him and his brother all the necessary information they needed before they made the decision to withdraw treatment for their father in February 2024.

4. Mr B says the premature discharge meant his father’s overall health deteriorated and led to his sad death. He explains his father’s death has had a huge impact on his mother, as his father was her main carer and she is now in care home.

5. He told us the lack of information provided by the Trust has made him feel like he failed his father and caused him suffering, beyond usual grief. Mr B says had the Trust included COVID-19 in its discussions to withdraw treatment he and his brother may not have made the decision to turn off the machines which were supporting Mr K.

6. Mr B wants the Trust to acknowledge and apologise for what it got wrong. He also wants it to improve its service and provide a financial remedy to support his mother with ongoing care home costs.

7. Mr K was admitted to the Trust at the end of December 2023 after period of illness and a fall at home. The Trust discharged Mr K in early January 2024. It admitted him again at the end of January with an infection. The Trust confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of February. Mr K sadly died a few days later.

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

10. Mr B complains, in part, that failings in care led to his father’s death. He says it has particularly had a huge impact on his mother, as Mr K was her carer and she is now in a care home which is significantly impacting her financially.

11. He also says the Trust did not tell him and his brother, his father still had COVID-19 during discussions about withdrawal of treatment. He says had he known Mr K was still being treated for COVID-19 he may not have made the decision to withdraw his treatment, and his father may still be here now.

12. Understandably, Mr B finds it difficult to put a value on his father’s life. As his father was his mother’s main carer before his death, Mr B is seeking a significant financial remedy to support his mother’s future care home costs. Mr B told us his priority is not financial remedy and is also seeking service improvements. However, he said he would not be satisfied with anything less than the highest level on our severity of injustice scale.

13. Mr B told us he has not explored legal action in relation to his concerns. He told us he would not rule out seeking legal advice and nothing would prevent him from seeking it. As the beneficiary and executor of Mr K’s estate, he may be able to make a clinical negligence claim on behalf of his estate for the serious issues he has brought to us. We can achieve various levels of compensation. However, it is unlikely we would achieve high levels of compensation that the courts may achieve.

14. We consider it is reasonable for Mr B to explore legal action given the serious nature of his concerns, the significant impact he is claiming and the financial compensation he is seeking. Mr B has not told us about any barriers that would prevent him from taking legal action. We also would not wish to deny Mr B the opportunity to take legal action by considering his complaint and causing him to be outside of the three-year limitation for doing so.

15. If someone seeks a mix of outcomes, some of which they cannot achieve through legal action, we still consider if it is appropriate for someone to pursue a claim. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed, only whether it would be a reasonable option to explore.

16. Outcomes like acknowledgement of errors and apologies may also be achieved indirectly through legal action. While a court cannot typically recommend such outcomes, an organisation may take those actions proactively to avoid similar legal claims in future.

17. Based on what Mr B told us, it is clear financial remedy is important to him and his family, and his father’s death has had a significant impact on them. We recognise he has been through a traumatic experience, and we do not underestimate the impact it had on them, nor do we wish to add to this.

18. In summary, we consider it is reasonable for Mr B to pursue a legal remedy. We think it is important for Mr B to be fully aware of what legal action may be able to achieve for him, particularly in light of the financial impact he describes. He can return to our service if he has outstanding outcomes we can achieve following legal action, and we may be able to consider his complaint at that time.

19. If Mr B chooses to bring the complaint back to us, we would advise he does so as promptly as possible. This is because we have a one-year time-limit by which to consider complaints (from the day a person became aware of their reason to complain).

20. We have discretion to set this time-limit to one side if there are strong reasons to do so. We will consider the time it has taken us to consider the complaint and any other delays outside of his control.

21. We are very sorry to hear of the circumstances of Mr K’s death and the devastating impact this has had on Mr B, his mother and the rest of their family. It is clear Mr K was very important to them. We are grateful to Mr B for the time he has taken to explain the details of his complaint to us. We hope this statement clearly explains our decision not to consider his complaint further at this time.

1. We have carefully considered Mr B’s complaint about Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust). We were sorry to hear about his father’s, sad death. It is clear he feels his father may still be alive if the Trust acted differently. We understand this has left Mr B and his family with serious concerns about the Trust’s actions.

2. Based on what we have seen and our conversations with Mr B, we consider he may be able to take legal action on the matters he has brought to us. Therefore, we will not consider his complaint further at this time. We will explain our decision in more detail below.