P-004122: Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

Topics and themes

2 PHSO issues · 1 Index theme

PHSO issue classifications

Drugs / medication
Nursing care

Accountability Index themes

Complaint record keeping failures

Outcome

AI summary

The complaint was closed because Mrs Y is already pursuing legal action, which the Ombudsman deemed the appropriate course.

The complaint

3. Mrs Y complains about the care and treatment Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, provided to her father prior to his death in October 2022.

4. Mrs Y believes the way her father was neglected and uncared for had a massive effect on his outcome. She says she had the worst four weeks of her life followed by an absolute world shattering impact which still affects her.

5. To resolve his complaint, Mrs Y is seeking an apology, service improvements and a financial remedy.

Findings

7. 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.

8. We discussed this with Mrs Y to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she is hoping to achieve. We understand from Mrs Y that she has already started legal action.

9. We have considered the relevant factors and law. Mrs Y could take legal action on the issues she has brought to us. We do not see any barriers to prevent Mrs Y from pursuing legal action and we think it is reasonable that she does so. We have therefore decided not to consider the complaint further.

10. We recognise how important this matter is to Mrs Y and the significance of the impact the events have had on her. We thank her for bringing this complaint to our attention.

PHSO decision

1. We have carefully considered Mrs Y’s complaint about the Trust. We are sorry to hear about what happened and recognise the significant impact this has had on her.

2. We have decided not to consider the complaint further. This is because Mrs Y is in the process of taking legal action and it is reasonable for her to pursue this.