Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mrs Y complains about various aspects of the care and treatment the Trust gave her son, Master Y, during his admission from 26 August 2022 to 8 March 2023.

4. Very sadly, Master Y died on 8 March 2023. Mrs Y says as a direct result of these failings, her son was left in a coma for the final seven months of his life and he died, without having his basic needs met. Mrs Y says she is left heartbroken at the way her incredible boy was treated, that she suffers with PTSD despite counselling, and the whole family have been caused immense pain and suffering.

5. To resolve her complaint, Mrs Y seeks a financial remedy to address the impact of the failings, an acknowledgement of failings and apology, and service improvements.

8. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we consider it is not reasonable for them to do so. We do not base our decision on how successful legal action would be. Rather, we consider whether legal action is a reasonable option for someone to pursue.

9. We discussed this with Mrs Y to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We understand Mrs Y wants the Trust to provide financial compensation, to acknowledge failings, to apologise, and make changes in future.

10. Financial compensation is something that can be pursued through legal action, specifically through a clinical negligence claim. Following legal proceedings organisations sometimes also make apologies, acknowledge what went wrong, and say what it might do differently in future. For this reason, it is possible Mrs Y may obtain all her outcomes following any legal action.

11. We are generally not able to provide the same levels of financial remedy that a court can. Whilst we can make some recommendations for financial remedy, we consider the courts best placed to consider a more significant financial outcome for Mrs Y.

12. We explained we cannot act in an advisory capacity however Mrs Y could seek such advice free of charge. We explained that if she may be open to pursuing a remedy through the courts, then in line with our law, she needs to explore this now.

13. Mrs Y told us she had previously gone to one legal firm, and it had chosen not to take her case forward. We explained that in line with the law and our process, Mrs Y should explore her option of legal action more fully, with other legal firms.

14. Mrs Y could also consider legal representation under a conditional fee arrangement, commonly known as a ‘no-win-no-fee’ basis, which would not incur any upfront costs.

15. We have considered the relevant factors and the law. Mrs Y is still in time to pursue legal action. The legal route may be better suited to achieve the outcomes she seeks. We do not see any barriers to prevent her from exploring this option currently, and in line with our law, we think it is reasonable that she does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs Y’s complaint about the care and treatment the Trust gave her son, Master Y. We consider Mrs Y could take legal action on the matters she has brought to us. On this basis we have decided not to consider the complaint further.

2. We understand how important this matter is to Mrs Y. We were incredibly sorry to hear about what happened and recognise this continues to cause her immeasurable distress. We explain the reasons for our decision below.