Mrs D complained about the care and treatment provided to her mother, Mrs C, by the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust (“the Trust”). The investigation considered whether failings in the Trust’s assessment of Mrs C led to delay in her receiving treatment which could have potentially avoided her death from sepsis (when the body overreacts to an infection and damages the organs and tissue).
The Trust’s investigation into Mrs D’s complaint had identified several failings in the assessment and care it provided to Mrs C, but it said that on the balance of probability, the identified failings had not caused Mrs C harm. The Ombudsman found that it was unlikely that earlier treatment would have prevented her death from sepsis. As no injustice was identified, Mrs D’s complaint was not upheld.