Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust

3. Mrs C complains about aspects of the care and treatment Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (the Trust) provided to her husband, Mr C, in February 2025. She specifically complains the Trust failed to:

• take account of the clinical information provided by the ambulance service and delayed in triaging Mr C in the ED • calculated his National Early Warning Score incorrectly, failed to initiate the sepsis pathway, and dismissed the family’s concerns about this • disregarded signs Mr C may have a urinary tract infection and failed to provide IV fluids • promptly and consistently complete basic investigations such as checking Mr C’s vital signs • unsafely discharged Mr C from the ED and did not provide antibiotics when discharged.

4. Mrs C says these failings caused her husband to die from sepsis two weeks later. This has been devastating for her family and she has been unable to work since her husband’s death. Mrs C adds she has struggled financially due to the loss of his income and her being unable to work.

5. She would like the Trust to compensate her for the impact caused by her husband’s death. She would also like it to implement service improvements and acknowledge the failings in his care.

6. The law that gives us our powers to investigate complaints about NHS services is the Health Service Commissioners Act 1993. Section 4 of this legislations says we cannot investigate a complaint if there is a legal route available and it is reasonable to expect the person to pursue that option. When we consider this we first look at whether there is a legal route available and, if so, whether it is reasonable for the person to pursue that option.

7. Mrs C may have a claim under two areas of law. Firstly, she may be able to initiate a claim for medical negligence. Secondly, she may be able to make a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

8. For medical negligence claims the following tests should be met in order for there to be a cause of action:

• there was a duty of care to the person • there is a claim this duty was breached • there is a claim this caused harm to the person.

9. There is always a duty of care to patients who are receiving clinical care from any healthcare provider. Mrs C’s complaint indicates that inadequate care may have breached this duty and this caused her husband’s death. We are satisfied there may be a cause of action for a medical negligence claim.

10. The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 allows the relatives of a person who may have died due to neglect to make a claim for:

• any financial losses • funeral expenses • compensation for their bereavement (fixed at £15,120).

11. Mrs C’s claim is that inadequate care caused her husband’s death and this could meet the definition of negligence. This means she may also have a cause of action for a claim under this legislation.

12. These options can both achieve a financial remedy if the Trust was found to be negligent. A claim under the Fatal Accidents Act would also be able to consider her financial losses in a way that we are unlikely to be able to. Whilst a legal route cannot directly achieve service improvements and an acknowledgement, these can be achieved indirectly via legal action.

13. We considered whether it would be reasonable for Mrs C to pursue these options. We have seen is no indication that pursuing a legal route would be disproportionate to the outcomes sought, nor that there are any significant barriers that would prevent Mrs C from doing this. Furthermore, we have not seen evidence that she would be unable to obtain affordable representation, or that the cost of any legal representation would be disproportionate to the amount of compensation she could potentially achieve.

14. Based on the information we have seen, we have decided it is reasonable for Mrs C to pursue legal action. This means we cannot consider her complaint at this time. If her circumstances change and this change means it may no longer be reasonable to expect her to do this, she can return to our service and we can reconsider this.

15. We recognise how devastating these events have been for Mrs O, and our decision in no way comments on the merits of her complaint.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs C’s complaint about her husband’s care and have decided we cannot take further action. This is because there is a legal route available to Mrs C and it is reasonable for her to pursue this option.

2. We can see Mrs C’s family has been devasted by the loss of her husband and children’s father. We hope that in pursuing legal action she is able to obtain the outcomes she is looking for.