Barts Health NHS Trust

3. Mr N complains that in relation to Mr O’s care in September 2024, the Trust, did not promptly:

• triage him and conduct a medical review in the emergency department • test his troponin levels when it should have done • conduct a review by a cardiologist • give him prophylactic treatment for heart disease • provide him with constant electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring • provide him with regular observations and one to one nursing care by a qualified cardiac nurse.

4. Mr N says as a result his father died and this has caused him and his family distress.

5. Mr N would like a financial remedy and service improvements.

6. The Trust admitted Mr O to hospital in September 2024. The day after his admission he had a heart attack and sadly he died in hospital four days later.

8. 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. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

9. We have discussed this with Mr N to understand the circumstances of his complaint and the outcomes he wants.

10. Mr N complains that the actions of the Trust led to his father’s death. To resolve his complaint Mr N would like £12,500 to £50,000, as well as service improvements within the Trust. The impact he describes falls into the highest level of seriousness on our severity of injustice scale, involving a potentially avoidable death.

11. Mr N has told us he is acting on behalf of his family, including his mother who is the personal representative of Mr O’s estate. In those circumstances, it appears he may be able to pursue a clinical negligence claim on behalf of the estate regarding the serious concerns he has raised about Mr O’s care.

12. Where someone is seeking a significant financial compensation, it is generally more appropriate for this to be pursued through the legal system. While we can recommend various levels of financial compensation in some cases, the level of compensation available through our process is unlikely to reflect the level of compensation the courts may be able to consider in a clinical negligence claim. It is unlikely we would achieve high levels of compensation that the courts may achieve.

13. There are also strict time limits for bringing legal claims, which means it is important for individuals to explore that option fully and promptly where it may be available.

14. We have carefully considered Mr N’s reasons for not wishing to pursue legal action. He explained, in his view, pursuing legal action is not permissible in his faith, and that when someone dies, no further action should be taken as it is the will of God. We recognise that within all faiths there can be differing interpretations and understandings, and we respect that this is a personal matter for him.

15. We do not consider this makes legal action an unreasonable option in the circumstances of this complaint. This is because the concerns Mr N wants us to examine are the same as would be considered through a legal process. Although the processes are different, both would involve examining the circumstances of Mr O’s care and considering whether failings occurred and what impact they had.

16. Mr N also told us he would like us to consider his complaint because we are independent. We understand why independence is important to him. It is important to note that the courts are independent too and the legal process is equipped to consider complex matters involving allegations that failings in medical care caused or contributed to someone’s death, particularly where substantial compensation is being sought.

17. Mr N has not raised any other barriers to taking legal action so we went on to consider the remedies Mr N is seeking. Based on what Mr N told us, it is clear financial remedy is important to him and his family, and his father’s death has had a significant impact on them. While a court cannot typically recommend service improvements, an organisation may take those actions proactively to avoid similar incidence and future legal claims.

18. We gave Mr N the opportunity to seek initial legal advice and provide any information he wished us to consider about whether legal action was realistically available to him. Mr N provided letters which appeared to show that solicitors firms had declined to take on his case. However, we contacted the solicitors named in those letters and they have confirmed the letters have not been issued by them.

19. Because we have been unable to verify that these documents came from the firms in question, we are unable to place weight on them when reaching our decision.

20. Taking all the circumstances into account, we consider it would be reasonable for Mr N to explore legal action given the seriousness of his complaint, the very significant impact claimed, and the level of financial compensation sought. For this reason, we do not propose to take any further action on Mr N’s complaint.

21. We recognise from our conversations with Mr N how strongly he feels that the Trust’s actions contributed to his father’s death, and the significant emotional and personal impact this has had on the family. We appreciate that this decision will be disappointing for Mr N and his family, particularly given the deeply distressing circumstances surrounding the death of his father.

22. We hope this statement clearly explains our decision not to consider his complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Mr N’s complaint about Barts Health NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to learn of the death of Mr N’s father, Mr O. We appreciate how distressing and painful this has been for Mr N and his family. We understand this has left Mr N and his family with serious concerns about the care his father received from the Trust.

2. After carefully considering the information available to us, including the discussions we have had with Mr N, we consider he may be able to take legal action in relation to the issues he has raised. Because of this we have decided not to investigate his complaint. We have set out our reasons for our decision in more detail below.