A practice in the Hampshire area

3. Mrs U complains that between 2021 and February 2023 the Practice and Trust did not act on Mr A’s symptoms of liver disease. She also complains:

• the Practice ignored signs of liver failure in February 2023

• the Trust did not communicate the seriousness of Mr A’s illness during his hospital stay

• the Trust did not give good nursing care to Mr A

• the Trust failed to give palliative (end of life) care at the right time.

4. Mrs U thinks opportunities were missed to diagnose Mr A earlier and his life may have been cut short. She explains it has been a huge shock for her family and they are heartbroken.

5. Mrs U wants service changes, an explanation and a financial payment of up to £10,000.

8. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless it is unreasonable for them to do this. We discussed this with Mrs U to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed, but whether it is a reasonable option to look in to.

9. Mrs U believes the Practice and Trust missed signs of Mr A’s liver disease and did not follow up properly on test results. She explains the Practice dismissed Mr A when he attended in February 2023 and he was sent home in liver failure.

10. As a result of this, she explains there were missed opportunities to diagnose and treat Mr A earlier, which could have led to him living longer. She also complains that the Trust’s communication and nursing care led to distress for herself and her family, while delays in the Trust giving palliative care caused Mr A unnecessary pain and distress.

11. Mrs U believes the treatment led to Mr A experiencing physical injury and herself and her family experiencing psychological injury. She wants a payment to recognise this. Mrs U is bringing this complaint on behalf of Mr A’s family, including his children, and explains her husband is the executor of Mr A’s will.

12. Mr A’s children would possibly be able to make a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act (1976) as dependents. Or, there could also be a claim for direct costs such as funeral expenses that could be pursued by the executor of the estate.

13. We looked at whether it would be reasonable for Mrs U to explore this. Mrs U told us they wanted a financial payment for Mr A’s children.

14. We discussed our severity of injustice (SOI) scale with Mrs U. We use this scale to look at how someone has been affected and how much we would be likely to recommend if we upheld the complaint. After considering our scale she explained she thought the complaint is a level five or six on the scale, so she would be looking for up to, or more than, £10,000.

15. This is at the top of our scale and suggests that legal action may be appropriate. Mrs U also wants an explanation, service changes and an apology. These can be achieved as part of successful legal action.

16. Based on the information we have, we would be more likely to put the complaint at level four on the scale. This could change but means we would be looking more at £1,000 to £2,950.

17. We discussed any possible barriers to Mrs U taking legal action. Mrs U explained they do not want to explore legal action as they have no energy for this and the process may be distressing. She confirmed there were no financial barriers preventing her from exploring legal action and they have not approached any solicitors.

18. We understand that Mrs U does not want to take legal action and she is concerned about the process. While we fully appreciate her comments on effort and distress, using a solicitor is not very different to what is needed to use our service. Most of the communication is done remotely and with legal action, a high number of cases are resolved without the need for any court attendance.

19. We have decided it is reasonable for Mrs U to explore legal action and we will not consider her complaint further at this time.

20. We have explained to Mrs U that she is welcome to return to us if they are unable to find a solicitor to take their case. We ask Mrs U to return to us at her earliest opportunity if she needs to because we will need to look at our time limit. We thank Mrs U for bringing her concerns to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs U’s complaint about a GP practice in the Hampshire area (the Practice) and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to hear about the experience Mrs U and her family had and the distress this continues to cause them.

2. We have decided Mrs U could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us. We think it is reasonable for her to explore that and we will take no further action at this time. We hope the explanation below fully explains how we have reached our decision.