York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mr O complains about aspects of care and treatment provided to his wife Mrs O by York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). Specifically, he says the Trust failed:

• to act on results of CT scans throughout 2024 • admit Mrs O to a ward in an acceptable timeframe.

4. Mr O says as a result of the Trust’s negligent care, Mrs O’s cancer progressed without treatment and she died. He told us their retirement years have been taken from them.

5. Mr O told us as a result of not admitting Mrs O to a ward in time, she was left distressed and exhausted on a corridor in the Emergency Department. She had recently undergone chemotherapy and her immune system was weak.

6. Mr O told us his children and grandchildren have all been affected by the premature loss of Mrs O.

7. As an outcome to his complaint Mr O seeks an apology, service improvements and financial compensation at level six on the severity of injustice scale.

8. In early 2023 Mrs O (61) experienced shortness of breath and sickness. A CT scan revealed she had lung cancer. Mrs O had treatment throughout 2023 culminating in surgery in October 2023. They were advised the surgery was successful and no further treatment was needed. They believed the surgery had removed all the cancer and they would follow the surgery up with close monitoring. Mr O told us this did not happen.

9. Mrs O began to feel unwell again in February 2024. She felt the symptoms were similar to her original presentation and requested an urgent GP and hospital appointment.

10. In March 2024 the Trust carried out a scan and nothing of note was reported. Mrs O was very clear she still felt unwell and was convinced something was not right. In June 2024 a further scan was carried out and again nothing of note was reported.

11. In September 2024 a contrast scan was carried out which confirmed the cancer had returned. Mrs O sadly died on 8 January 2025.

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

15. 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.

16. Mr O tells us due to negligent care by the Trust his wife lost her life prematurely. Mr O told us their retirement years were taken away from them. He says their whole family have been affected by the loss of Mrs O.

17. Mr O has not specified an exact amount of money he is looking to achieve. Mr O has told us he is seeking financial compensation at level 6 on the severity of injustice scale.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. Mr O 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.

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

22. Mr O has not told us of any barriers to him being able to explore his legal options. He has advised he has already approached a law firm.

23. We are satisfied there are potential legal routes available for Mr O to pursue his concerns through. Based on what Mr O has told us we consider there is a cause of action available in clinical negligence for the issues he has raised.

24. Taking all of the above into account, legal action appears to be a reasonable option for Mr O to explore. This could achieve the financial remedy he is seeking.

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

1. We have carefully considered Mr O’s complaint about York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We understand Mr O’s complaint is very important to him and recognise he has been deeply impacted by the sad loss of his wife.

2. We believe there may be a legal remedy available to Mr O in relation to his complaint about the Trust, and have seen nothing to suggest it would not be reasonable for him to explore this. We have therefore decided not to consider his complaint at this time.