Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

2. Mr I complains the Trust:

• failed to follow his advance decision by prescribing treatment and medication when he was admitted to A&E on 11 May 2022 • incorrectly diagnosed him as having a seizure when he had only had a fall • shared information about his time at A&E with the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) without his permission.

3. Mr I says he has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is suicidal because of what happened on 11 May. He also says he lost his job because of the information the Trust shared with the DVLA.

4. Mr I would like an apology for what happened and a financial payment of around £250,000.

5. Mr I went to A&E after an overdose.

6. He made a complaint to the Trust the next day because he was unhappy with his care and treatment.

7. The Trust replied to the complaint on 27 June.

8. Mr I raised more concerns by email on 17 April 2023.

9. The Trust sent a final response on 13 July 2023.

10. Mr I brought his complaint to us on 17 July 2023.

12. 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 discussed this with Mr I to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed, but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

13. From talking to Mr I we recognise he feels strongly that the Trust has been negligent. The main outcomes he wants are a financial payment to cover his financial loss and an apology. He is not looking for service improvements.

14. If we uphold a complaint we use our severity of injustice scale to make fair and consistent recommendations for financial payments. These range from£0 to around £10,000 depending on how seriously we decide someone has been affected by what happened. The highest level on this scale (representing profound and devastating life changing events often resulting in disability, a lifetime limiting illness or even death) would still not mean we would recommend anywhere near the £250,000 Mr I is looking for. A court can often recommend much more as it considers clinical negligence.

15. We think Mr I has a legal route available. As well as a financial recommendation, an apology can also be achieved as a by-product.

16. When looking at if it would be reasonable for Mr I to take legal action, we look at factors like the individual circumstances of a complaint and if the costs of legal action would be more than any money received, if he can afford to make a claim, how long legal proceedings may take, the age and health circumstances of the complainant and any other circumstances which may affect this.

17. We discussed the complaint with Mr I and understand he did not wish to take legal action in May 2022 because of his health.

18. Mr I explains he would consider the ‘no win, no fee’ option as he is not working and has made enquiries to begin exploring this fully. We did not find any other barriers that would make a legal route unreasonable for him to take.

19. Because Mr I has a legal route and it is reasonable for him to take it and he has already made enquiries to follow this up, we are closing the case to allow him to continue with this.

20. Mr I can return to us with any outcomes not achieved by legal action. We strongly advise Mr I to not delay in exploring legal action and to be aware of our time limits for if he needs to return to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mr I’s complaint about Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to learn of his concerns. We think Mr I could take legal action on the matter he has brought to us, and it is reasonable for him to do this.