Barts Health NHS Trust

3. Mr K complains about the care and treatment provided by the Trust to Mr K during hospital admissions from November 2023 to February 2024, when Mr K sadly died. He was admitted because of problems related to his gallbladder.

6. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to get an answer to their concerns by taking legal action, unless we consider this is unreasonable in the circumstances.

7. We have discussed this with Mr R to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. Mr R told us that the actions of the Trust led to Mr K’s deterioration and death.

8. Mr R has explained that he is seeking a financial remedy in recognition of the impact of the Trust’s mistakes. Mr R explained that he is seeking financial redress of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

9. There is a legal course of action available. Mr R could make a legal claim for clinical negligence for the issues he has raised.

10. While we can make recommendations for financial remedy where we see something has gone wrong that has had an impact on the complainant, the amounts we recommend are usually more modest than those awarded by the legal system.

11. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed. We look at whether there are legal options available and whether it would be reasonable for the person to explore them. Mr R has told us that he has already approached some solicitors with a view to them taking his case forwards and this process is continuing.

12. At this point in time, we are satisfied there are potential legal routes available for Mr R to pursue his concerns, which may provide the outcomes he seeks. As there are time limits for making a legal claim, we do not want to remove this as an option when it could potentially offer what Mr R is looking for.

13. If Mr R explores legal action and still has unresolved issues or outcomes that are not considered or remedied by the courts, he can ask us to consider his complaint again. If he does decide to return to us, he should bring her complaint back to us promptly. This is because we would need to consider our own time limits for a person to complain to us, in line with the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993.

14. We are very sorry to hear about what happened to Mr K and how this has affected, and continues to affect, Mr R and his family. We thank him for bringing his concerns to us. We hope this statement clearly explains why we will not be considering his concerns further at this time.

1. We have carefully considered Mr R’s complaint about Barts Health NHS Trust (the Trust). Mr R complains about aspects of the care and treatment the Trust provided to his father, Mr K, which he says led to his fathers death. We are very sorry to hear about the circumstances of Mr R’s complaint and the sad death of his father.

2. We have decided not to take further action at this time because we consider it is reasonable for Mr R to explore taking legal action on the issues he has brought to us.