The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust

5. Mr B and Mr G complain the Trust did not consider their mother, Mrs C’s mental wellbeing when she was put in a side room during her admission between October and November 2024.

6. They say she was left in a side room which left her questioning what she had done to deserve it with no hope. They believe this contributed to her death. They want evidence of the actions the Trust has taken since their complaint.

7. Mrs C attended the Trust in early October 2024 after a fall at home. She sadly died at the Trust in mid-November. The Trust recorded Mrs C’s cause of death as old age and frailty.

10. Mr B and Mr G say the Trust did not consider their mother’s mental wellbeing when it put her in a side room for four weeks during her admission. They say this led to their mother feeling isolated. They told us they feel she gave up, and this contributed to her death as she was counting down the hours about how ill she felt until she died, which we are sorry to hear about.

11. Our Principles for Remedy says we would expect organisations to acknowledge mistakes and apologise for the impact these mistakes had. The remedy should be appropriate and proportionate to the injustice sustained and consider the wishes and needs of the complainant in deciding an appropriate remedy.

12. The Trust met with Mr B and Mr G during the complaints process. The Trust acknowledged the importance of considering isolation when patients are in a side room and said it would consider what staff can to do to support patients in side rooms more. The Trust apologised for their experience.

13. It provided a written response to them after the meeting. It said it had adapted its daily routine so patients in side rooms receive additional welfare checks to ensure they do not feel isolated. It also explained it had identified the availability of an entertainment library which was not widely known before. It said the library contained several items including radios, audiobooks, mindful colouring books and regular books. It also explained it had introduced meal mates, a system which supports patients during mealtimes and ensures they are happy with their meal of choice.

14. During our conversations with Mr B and Mr G, we discussed what the Trust had already done to address their concerns and what further they wanted to achieve from bringing their complaint to the Ombudsman. Mr B explained that what the Trust had done so far, felt a bit unclear and he wants to know more detail about the actions it has taken to address the mental wellbeing of patients in side rooms.

15. We discussed their complaint with the Trust and explained what further they want to resolve their complaint. The Trust provided us an action plan which explains the action it has taken to address their concerns. It says its patient experience team offers a variety of activities to patients several times a week and staff discuss this daily to ensure engagement with patients in side rooms. It explains the patient experience team and the ward manager is responsible for ensuring this is maintained.

16. Further to the information it shared in its response, the Trust says it has now introduced meal coordinators who are allocated daily to support patients at mealtimes. This shows several actions the Trust has taken to put more structured checks in place to support patients’ wellbeing and prevent them from feeling isolated.

17. The Trust has also explained to us that it plans to contact Mr B to offer him an opportunity to share their story at one of its meetings, which is something he had expressed interest in during the local resolution meeting.

18. We are reassured by the actions the Trust has taken that it will regularly consider patients overall experience and mental wellbeing more, when they are in a side room during their admission.

19. We recognise Mr B and Mr G feel their mother’s time in a side room at the Trust led her to give up and contributed to her death. They explained Mrs C raised how isolated she felt during her admission. Therefore, we have reviewed her relevant medical records. We can see the Trust treated Mrs C for several symptoms during her admission and it documented her cause of death as old age and frailty.

20. The records show the Trust moved Mrs C to a side room as she had Clostridioides difficile infection, which is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes diarrhoea. The records show Mrs C experienced these symptoms up to the day before she died. Therefore, it was reasonable for Mrs C to be in a side room for several weeks for infection control purposes due to her ongoing symptoms.

21. While isolation can be a problem for some people in side rooms, it is also worth bearing in mind there are also advantages. Many people prefer a side room because of the privacy and dignity advantages it offers.

22. We saw no evidence in Mrs C’s records that she or her family raised any concerns about her mental wellbeing or feeling isolated during her admission. We can see Mrs C’s cause of death was unrelated to her mental wellbeing. We do note, however, the Trust’s acceptance that it could have handled the situation better and we know from speaking with Mr B that the family did have concerns at the time.

23. Mr B and Mr G told us they feel their mother gave up on ever leaving hospital and thinks the time she spent in a side room contributed to this, which we understand must be difficult for them reflect on after her sad death. We do not feel it would ever be possible to reach the conclusion that being in a side room and feeling isolated affected Mrs C’s mental wellbeing to the point that it contributed to her death.

24. The Trust has acknowledged Mrs C’s experience could have been better. We can see it has provided information to explain the actions it has taken, since Mr B and Mr G’s complaint, to address its findings. It has also agreed to offer Mr B an opportunity to share his story, which is in line with what he told us he wants to achieve, and Our Principles for Remedy.

25. We are satisfied that the explanation the Trust has given, and the actions it has taken, in response to Mr B and Mr G’s, are reasonable. We feel there is nothing we could usefully add by investigating further.

26. The Trust has taken action to improve its service in response to the complaint Mr B and Mr G raised. We hope this reassures them the Trust has taken their complaint seriously and that their decision to pursue their complaint will lead to an improvement in services.

1. We have carefully considered Mr B and Mr G’s complaint about The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). They told us they are concerned about the impact the Trust’s actions had on their mother’s mental wellbeing during her admission, when it put her in a side room for four weeks. They say they believe this contributed to her death, which has understandably caused them a great deal of upset and anxiety.

2. Mrs C had a diarrhoeal illness, and we have seen nothing to suggest the decision to place her in a side room was inappropriate. The Trust’s response to Mr B’s complaint did acknowledge the importance of considering isolation when patients are in a side room. It apologised for their experience and acknowledged staff should have carried out more checks on their mother. We have seen no indication that being nursed in a side room contributed to Mrs C’s death.

3. Mr B and Mr G told us they want the Trust to explain in more detail what action it has taken in response to their concerns. We discussed this with the Trust. It has provided an action plan which sets out the steps it has taken since Mr B raised his complaint. It has also explained it will contact Mr B to provide him with an opportunity to share his story at one of its meetings, which is something he had taken interest in doing during the local resolution meeting.

4. We consider the actions the Trust has taken are reasonable. We do not believe that further investigation by us would be likely to achieve anything more. Therefore, we will not be taking further action on this complaint. We will explain our decision in more detail below.