Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust

3. Mrs O complains that from March to August 2020, North Devon Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust) failed to provide enough chemotherapy sessions for her late husband’s lung cancer. She also complains they failed to follow oncology advice for a CT scan, following a visit to A&E in June 2020 when her husband was chronically hiccupping, and that doctors were rude to her husband.

4. Mrs O says that her husband prematurely died in August 2020 as a result of these failings.

5. Mrs O would like a personal apology from doctors, service improvements, and compensation commensurate with the impact this has caused.

7. Mrs O complains that the Trust failed to provide appropriate chemotherapy treatment, or a CT scan, for her husband’s cancer after he was referred by oncology to A&E, in June 2020. She believes that this decision resulted in her husband’s premature, or potentially avoidable death.

8. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (s4) 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 have discussed this with Mrs O to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to explore.

9. We discussed with Mrs O, why she had not explored legal action and whether this was a reasonable path. We fully appreciate the difficulties the loss of a loved one brings to a family and accept that Mrs O and her family may not have considered this avenue until now. In discussing the options with Mrs O, we discussed the possibility of legal action, and discussed whether she could obtain independent legal advice to get a better understanding of that option. She confirmed she was looking for a financial amount commensurate with an avoidable death, which is something that could, and may better be achieved in that way. Mrs O noted she had not considered this but there was no reason why she could not pursue this matter through the courts and has intimated that she was willing to explore this avenue in the first instance.

10. We also considered whether legal action would achieve everything she was hoping to achieve. Mrs O explained that she is also seeking service improvements to prevent further instances of this happening to others. While this outcome would not be achieved as a direct result of legal action, it is likely the outcome of successful legal action would achieve this, as the organisation would be likely to make changes to prevent a similar situation again. As such, it seems she could achieve her aims through legal action.

11. Having considered the evidence available, and in accordance with our statutory powers, in addition to discussing options with Mrs O, we have seen no barriers for Mrs O pursuing and bringing legal action through the courts to achieve her desired outcomes and which we believe is proportionate for her to do.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs O’s complaint about North Devon Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust). Following our consideration, we have come to the view that she could take legal action on the whole of the matter she has brought to us.

2. We appreciate that this will have been a very distressing series of events for Mrs O, as it relates to the loss of her husband, and we recognise how difficult this must have been for her to bring to us. Mrs O and her family have our deepest sympathies for their loss.