Humber Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mr T complains Humber Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust refused to further investigate his stomach issues in June 2025.

4. He says this meant he could not access the right treatment and was wrongly diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. His symptoms have been worsening and this limiting what he can do in his daily life.

5. He wants the Trust to apologise for the impact of the mistakes on him and to offer him a financial remedy.

6. Mr T is an inpatient at a secure psychiatric unit. He has reported having stomach problems for several years and has had different beliefs about what is causing his abdominal symptoms.

10. Before we decide if we should do a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not found any indications that something has gone wrong.

11. Our adviser noted the chronic nature of Mr T’s stomach problems and could see from the records that he reported a range of symptoms such as pain, change in bowel habits and vomiting.

12. Even with the gastroenterology service’s input and the investigations he had already had, Mr T was not reassured about what was happening inside him and the physical symptoms this was causing him. The psychiatric services supported Mr T with the understanding that further tests were unlikely to reassure him, there was no evidence of something concerning in his investigations.

13. The psychiatrist wrote to general surgery in June 2025 to ask for advice about Mr T’s requests for a CT scan. They set out the investigations Mr T had already had for his stomach symptoms between 2019 and June 2025, including: • an abdominal ultrasound scan to rule out a hernia, which was normal in January 2019 • a sigmoidoscopy (a test to look inside the lower part of the bowel) for one episode of rectal bleeding, which was normal in November 2019 • an upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy (a test to look inside the food pipe, stomach and upper part of the bowel) for self-reported weight loss, which was normal in November 2019 • a CT scan of his chest and abdomen, which was reported as normal in December 2019 • an abdominal ultrasound scan in January 2022 because of abnormal liver function tests and his report of being aware of ‘parasitic movements’, which showed some fatty changes to the liver • a colonoscopy and an upper GI endoscopy - these were unremarkable in May 2024 and the gastroenterology service felt he had irritable bowel syndrome.

14. A consultant in colorectal surgery (a surgeon specialising in the management of conditions of the lower digestive tract) considered whether more invasive testing would be appropriate and replied in July 2025.

15. They noted Mr T's previous numerous tests, which had not showed any significant results. Our adviser said the colorectal surgeon was right to consider whether more testing would be the right thing to do. This was in line with the GMC guidance. It advises medical professionals not to do excessive testing, and instead promotes consideration of the benefits and risks of investigations.

16. The surgeon did not think there was a medical indication to do a CT scan. They said the psychiatrist would have to judge whether the CT scan may provide some reassurance for Mr T. The adviser said general surgery rightly left the decision, from a psychiatric perspective, with the psychiatrist.

17. Our adviser said that when deciding whether to order tests, the responsible clinician should consider the risks to the patient of doing this. The records show the psychiatrist explained to Mr T more tests were unlikely to reassure him and could escalate his anxiety. They explained the general surgeons had not recommended more tests because there was no medical indication for this.

18. Our adviser said the psychiatrist was right to do this because Mr T’s situation needed a joint approach to consider the psychiatric and medical perspectives of his care. Our adviser says that overall, the psychiatrist appropriately considered the full picture of Mr T’s needs, in line with GMC guidance, by consulting with general surgery and by balancing their opinion with Mr T’s psychiatric presentation and the beliefs he had about his symptoms.

19. We understand that the psychiatrist chose to order a CT scan in December 2025. However, this is not proof they should have done the same thing in June.

20. In summary, we have seen no indications the Trust did something wrong when it considered organising further investigations for Mr T’s stomach symptoms.

21. We understand how important this matter is to Mr T and how worrying his symptoms are, and we hope our decision is clear about why we do not think the Trust should have done anything differently.

1. We have carefully considered Mr T’s complaint about Humber Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We have seen no indication that the Trust did something wrong when it did not organise more investigations for his stomach symptoms.

2. We recognise that Mr T has been experiencing ongoing and distressing stomach symptoms. We also understand it would have been frustrating and concerning for him when the Trust did not organise more investigations, particularly when he continued to experience symptoms. While we have not seen an indication that something went wrong, we acknowledge the difficulties he has faced and the effect this situation has had on him.