Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

3. Mr A complains about the care and treatment the Trust provided to his father, Mr A, from September-November 2019. Specifically, he says:

• the Trust failed to diagnose the cause of his father’s infection, fever and anaemia. He says his father’s condition deteriorated over the coming weeks and weakened his immune system; • the Trust did not consider whether his father had a vitamin C deficiency. He says his father’s condition drastically improved following the vitamin C treatment, but the Trust failed to acknowledge this; • the Trust dismissed his concerns that his father had suffered an adverse reaction to a blood transfusion; • the Trust did not keep him informed about his father’s deteriorating condition by not providing meaningful updates; and • the lack of appropriate end of life care. He says his father was left to suffer in his final days and the Trust let him down.

4. Mr A says his father went from being mobile on admission and became bedbound under the Trust’s care. He says these events were incredibly distressing and traumatic for him and his family to witness. By bringing his complaint to our office, Mr A is seeking service improvements and financial remedy.

7. The law says a person needs to make their complaint to us within a year of becoming aware of the problem. We cannot investigate complaints brought to us after one year, unless we consider there is a good reason to do so.

8. Mr A became aware of the issues surrounding his father’s care in November 2019. To fall within the one-year time limit, we would need to have received his complaint by November 2020. Mr A brought his complaint to us in February 2026, which is 5 years and 3 months outside of our time limit.

9. Mr A submitted his complaint to the Trust shortly after his father’s death in November 2019. The Trust acknowledged receipt of his complaint. Following this, there was no further correspondence until 27 October 2022, when Mr A contacted the Trust again regarding the same concerns.

10. The Trust sent its response to Mr A’s complaint in October 2023. He responded promptly on 8 November. The Trust also acknowledged receipt of that response. Following this, there was no further correspondence until January 2025, when Mr A contacted the Trust again.

11. Following his correspondence in January 2025, communication became more regular between the Trust and Mr A. The Trust issued its final response in January 2026, and he brought his complaint to us promptly in February 2026.

12. In line with the NHS complaints regulations the Trust had a duty to respond to Mr A’s complaint in a timely manner. Its failure to do so contributed to the delay.

13. The Trust told us it cannot account for what happened to Mr A’s original complaint, as there is no longer a record of it. It also does not have access to the historical inbox that was in use at the time. The Trust also explained that staffing pressures, organisational changes and the need for coordinated responses across several specialist areas contributed to the further delays.

14. We recognise that the Trust’s handling of Mr A’s complaint contributed to the delays. Nevertheless, we must also consider the steps Mr A took to pursue the complaint.

15. There were two substantial periods of delay: between November 2019 and October 2022, and between November 2023 and January 2025. During both periods, Mr A received no substantive response to his complaint but, in our view, did not follow this up in a timely manner.

16. Mr A says during the first period of delay he was caring for his mother, and the Covid-19 pandemic affected them greatly. We appreciate that this followed the loss of his father, and we recognise this was an exceptionally difficult and challenging period for him and his family. We do not underestimate the impact that bereavement, caring responsibilities and the unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic may have had on his ability to pursue the complaint.

17. We are not suggesting that responsibility for the delay rests solely with Mr A. The Trust did not respond or progress his complaint in a timely manner, and we have taken that into account. However, when deciding whether to investigate a complaint made outside our statutory time limit, we must also consider the steps taken by the complainant to pursue the matter.

18. While there were unavoidable disruptions during 2020, Mr A did not contact the Trust again until October 2022, almost 3 years after submitting his original complaint. There was a further 2-year delay after his November 2023 correspondence. Even allowing for the impact of the pandemic and his caring responsibilities, these periods of inactivity make up a significant proportion of the overall delay.

19. In our view, it would have been reasonable for Mr A to make enquiries and seek an update from the Trust much sooner than he did. We do not consider the reasons provided justify such a lengthy period of delay without any follow up, and this remains a significant factor in our consideration of the overall delay. We do not think the explanations Mr A has given are reason enough to set our time limit to one side.

20. We were very sorry to learn what happened, and the impact this has had on Mr A and his family. We understand how important the complaint is to him and we are grateful to him for sharing his concerns.

21. 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 reason why we will not be considering the complaint further.

1. We have carefully considered Mr A’s complaint about Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). Mr A’s complaint falls outside of our time limit. We considered his reasons for not bringing the complaint to us sooner. We do not think these were sufficient reason to set aside our time limit and so we will take no further action.

2. We thank Mr A for taking the time to tell us about his upsetting experience. We were sorry to read about the ongoing impact of this on him and his family. We hope this statement explains the reasons for our decision.