A medical practice in the Coventry area

3. Miss D complains about the following aspects of the treatment Mrs A received from the Practice between 10 December 2020 and 24 May 2021 and the Trust in May 2021.

Complaint about the Practice

4. Miss D says the Practice did not fully examine Mrs A and give her appropriate treatment. She also says it misdiagnosed her condition.

Complaint about the Trust

5. Miss D says the Trust did not properly diagnose Mrs A and discharged her when she was unwell.

6. Miss D also complains about the Trust’s handling of her complaint.

7. Miss D says as a result of the failings by the Practice and the Trust, Mrs A died. She says she has been left heartbroken and it has affected her physically and emotionally. She says she found it difficult to see Mrs A in a lot of pain before she died.

8. Miss D wants an explanation and for the Practice and the Trust to admit its mistakes. She also wants financial compensation.

10. 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 have discussed this with Miss D 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 look in to.

11. Miss D wants an explanation and for the organisations to admit its mistakes. Miss D would also like a large amount of financial compensation for the mistakes made by the organisations and for the distress it has caused her.

12. Miss D has confirmed she has not taken any legal advice. She says she would like us to give her a decision before she pursues legal action.

13. While we appreciate Miss D would like us to look into her complaint, the law says we cannot do this if she has a legal route that is reasonable for her to pursue. She has yet to explore whether she could pursue legal action. We consider it reasonable that she should get legal advice, to try to achieve the large amount of financial compensation she is looking for. Miss D did not tell us about any barriers which would stop her from pursuing legal action. She has the support of a friend who has legal knowledge and is helping her with her complaint.

14. Miss D would also like an explanation and for mistakes to be recognised. This can be a by-product of legal action, and we think she should find out if legal action can achieve these outcomes for her as well.

15. In summary, we consider it reasonable for Miss D to pursue legal action to possibly achieve the outcomes she is seeking. We will not take any further action on this complaint. We understand how important Miss D’s complaint is to her, and we hope she can achieve a satisfactory resolution to her concerns.

1. We have carefully considered Miss D’s complaint about a medical practice in the Coventry area (the Practice) and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear of Miss D’s concerns about the care and treatment her mother, Mrs A, received at the Practice and the Trust.

2. We have decided Miss D could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us.