A practice in the East Suffolk area

The Surgery 4. Mrs T complains about the care and treatment that her husband, Mr T, received at the the Surgery between August 2023 and October 2024. She specifically complains the surgery:

• failed to investigate symptoms of cancer • failed to treat Mr T and did not appropriately mark referrals as urgent.

5. Mrs T also says the Surgery:

• handled her complaint poorly • made stigmatising and inappropriate comments in her husband’s medical records • was dishonest and communicated unprofessionally.

6. Mrs T says she is frustrated and angry the Surgery may have missed opportunities for early diagnosis and treatment of her husband's cancer. She feels dismissed and disrespected by the GP practice staff, particularly in how her concerns and complaints were handled. The presence of a ’rude’ label in her husband's medical records and the insensitive communication surrounding his death caused her significant emotional distress.

7. Mrs T is looking for apologies, acknowledgments, improvements and a financial remedy.

The Trust 8. Mrs T complains about the care and treatment that her husband, Mr T, received for cancer at the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) between March 2024 and October 2024. She specifically complains about the following:

• delays and inadequate treatment following the cancer diagnosis • Mr T acquired an infection from the surgery that took place on 20 August2024 • insensitive communication after Mr T’s death

9. Mrs T describes experiencing deep emotional trauma from witnessing her husband’s rapid deterioration and death. She continues to suffer ongoing distress due to the lack of answers and unresolved questions surrounding his care. These experiences have led to a loss of trust in the healthcare system and a strong belief that there is no real accountability. Mrs T says she has been left feeling abandoned and invisible following her husband’s death

10. Mrs T is looking for apologies, acknowledgments, improvements and a financial remedy.

11. Between August 2023 and October 2024, Mrs T’s husband saw his GP at the Surgery because of a persistent, weeping, and bleeding growth on his head.

12. Mr T first attended the Surgery in August 2023, concerned about a persistent growth on his head which was weeping and bleeding. Over the following months he underwent tests at the Surgery and the Trust, and was advised no further treatment was needed.

13. At the point surgery was offered, following an infection in December 2023 the lesion was deemed too large to remove.

14. A biopsy in March 2024 confirmed the lesion was skin cancer. Surgery at the Trust took place in August, which later failed due to an infection. Mr T sadly died on 9 October.

17. 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. Simply put, if someone has a legal route available to achieve the outcomes they are looking for. And if it is reasonable for them to pursue that route, we are not able to look at the complaint further.

18. To understand Mrs T’s situation and desired outcomes, and whether it would be reasonable for her to explore legal action, we reviewed the documents she submitted to us and discussed this with her. Our role is not to assess whether legal action would be successful but rather whether it is a reasonable option to consider.

19. Mrs T has raised several concerns about the clinical care provided by the Surgery and the Trust. Mrs T is concerned that both organisations made mistakes which contributed to the death of her husband. As such, it appears that Mrs T may have legal recourse through the courts with a clinical negligence claim.

20. We have therefore, considered whether legal action could help her achieve the outcomes she is seeking, and whether it is reasonable for her to take that route.

21. Mrs T has indicated that she is seeking financial compensation for the avoidable death of her husband. Based on this, we can see the courts may be better placed to achieve this financial outcome.

22. We also considered possible barriers to pursuing legal action and any reasons why it might not be reasonable for Mrs T to take legal action. Mrs T confirmed she has appointed a solicitor who has already accepted the case. This is currently being reviewed by a specialist adviser. Therefore, we can see there are no barriers to her pursuing that action because she is already doing so.

23. With the above in mind, we can see Mrs T has a legal route available to her and it would be reasonable for her to pursue it to achieve the financial remedy she seeks.

24. In addition to financial compensation, Mrs T also seeks an apology, acknowledgement and service improvements. This is not something courts are likely to directly achieve for her, although they may be achieved as a byproduct of any legal action.

25. If Mrs T pursues legal action which does not achieve all of the outcomes she is seeking, she can return to us after legal action is complete.

26. It is also open for Mrs T to return to us if she explores legal action and it becomes clear that it is no longer reasonable for her to pursue that route.

27. If Mrs T does return to us in future, it is important she does so promptly because we would need to consider our own one-year time limit, in line with the ‘Health Service Commissioner Act 1993’. We can set this limit to one side where there is good reason to do so.

28. Any delays in returning to us may affect our ability to set the limit aside, so if she decides to return to us, we encourage her to contact us as soon as possible.

29. We understand that this is a difficult time for Mrs T, and we would like to thank her for sharing her loss and experience following her husband’s death so openly. We appreciate the openness she has shown in describing the events and her concerns. We hope this statement clearly sets out how we thought about what she told us and how we reached our decision in this case.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs T’s complaint about the Surgery and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust).

2. Mrs T complained about aspects of the care and treatment the Surgery and Trust provided to her husband, Mr T, when he was diagnosed with skin cancer. We are very sorry to hear about the loss of Mrs T’s husband and the impact this has had and continues to have on her.

3. Having carefully thought about what Mrs T has told us we have decided to take no further action at this time. This is because we can see Mrs T has a legal route available to her to achieve the financial remedy she is seeking, and we consider it is reasonable for her to explore that route because she is already in the process of doing so. We explain further below.