North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mr I complain that on 9 March 2022, the Trust performed surgery for the removal of epididymal cyst (a benign fluid-filled scans that develops in a tube behind the testicle that stores sperm) from his right testicle by an incision on his left testicle. He says the surgeon made an incision into his left testicle. He underwent a emergency surgery to repair the wound which he believes could have been avoided. He also complains the surgeon did not see him or explain the procedure.

4. Mr I say after his discharge, within 24 hours he was in A&E with a dehisced wound (surgical complication) and haemorrhage (severe loss of blood from a damaged blood vessel). As such his recovery took several weeks. He has lost faith in the Trust. The experience has left him feeling anxious and upset.

5. As an outcome he would like service improvements and financial compensation.

8. The law states a complainant must refer the complaint to us within one year from the day they first became aware that they had a reason to complain. This is referred to as the ‘date of knowledge’. We cannot consider complaints brought to us more than one year after the date of knowledge unless we can see there was an exceptional circumstance which prevented the person from doing so.

9. Mr I told us he became aware of the need to complaint straight away and we accept 10 March 2022 as his date of knowledge. To meet our time limit Mr I needed to complain to us by March 2023.

10. Mr I complained to us on 10 October 2025, three years and six months outside of our time limit. We discussed this with Mr I to understand the reasons why he did not bring his complaint sooner. We also considered the time the organisation took to respond to Mr I.

11. The regulations say the organisation investigating a complaint should send the complaint response within ‘the period of six months commencing on the day on which the complaint was received’.

12. We can see this happened, as the Trust received his complaint on 18 March 2025 and replied on 28 April 2025, within six months of receiving the complaint. Further concerns were raised on 4 June and replied to on 26 September 2025, within six months.

13. There is a gap of over three years before Mr I made a complaint to the Trust. At this point the complaint was three years outside of our time limit. We have considered whether there are good reasons why he did not bring his complaint to us within 12 months of the events complaint about.

14. We are sorry to hear about Mr I’s bereavement of family members in 2020 and 2021 and recognise the distress this would have caused. We also acknowledge Mr I’s difficulties in supporting a family member affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and long covid. We understand that these circumstances would have been challenging and continued to have a lasting impact.

15. Mr I complain about events that occurred in March 2022, after the period of bereavement. We recognise that the effects of grief and caring responsibilities can continue over time, but we consider there was opportunity for Mr I to have brought his complaint to us sooner, as he continued to raise a verbal complaint with the consultant at every one of his appointments.

16. Mr I could have gone down the formal complaint process when he saw that the consultants were not address his concerns. He could have also considered seeking the support of an advocacy service or a representative to help him make his complaint.

17. Taking all the circumstances into account, Mr I’s complaint was brought to us significantly outside our time limit. We do not think the explanations are reason enough to set our time limit to one side.

18. It is important we act within the law, and that we apply our current approach and process fairly and consistently. We are sorry for any upset this decision may cause. We hope this statement clearly explains the reasons why we will not be considering the complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Mr I’s complaint about North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to learn of his loss. We acknowledge his distressing experience with the Trust and acknowledge the impact this had on him.

2. We have decided Mr I’s complaint is outside of our time limit. We have set out the reasons for our decision below.