Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust (20 012 901a)

Statement Upheld Hospital acute services 23-Dec-2021

Summary: Mr B complained the Trust and the Council delayed his late mother’s discharge from hospital and kept her in hospital against her will on two occasions in December 2019. Mr B said as a result his mother, Mrs C, contracted a hospital acquired infection and this contributed to her untimely death. We found no fault in the way the Trust dealt with Mrs C’s first discharge from hospital. We found fault in the way the Trust and the Council dealt with Mrs C’s second discharge, and this meant she remained in hospital for longer than she wanted. The faults caused avoidable distress and frustration to both Mrs C and Mr B. However, we cannot link the claimed injustice to the fault identified. To put things right the Trust and the Council have agreed to our recommendations and will improve their practice in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, apologise to Mr B and make an acknowledgement payment.

Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (21 007 653a)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and funding 20-Dec-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council did not properly assess her father, Mr C’s, social care needs, and did not record his condition accurately. This is because Mrs B’s complaint is late and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to the desired outcome.

NHS England (21 007 653b)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and funding 20-Dec-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council did not properly assess her father, Mr C’s, social care needs, and did not record his condition accurately. This is because Mrs B’s complaint is late and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to the desired outcome.

Sirona Care & Health C I C (21 007 680a)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Community hospital services 13-Dec-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint that a specialist chair caused his wife, Mrs C, pressure sores. This is because an investigation would most likely not conclude the specialist chair solely caused the pressure sores.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust (21 009 865a)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Mental health services 09-Dec-2021

Summary: The Ombudsmen will not investigate this complaint about a decision to detain someone under the Mental Health Act. The actions of the doctors involved in the assessment are outside of PHSO’s remit. LGSCO could consider the assessment an Approved Mental Health Professional completed but an investigation is unlikely to find significant failings in the process they followed.

Devon Partnership NHS Trust (20 002 784a)

Statement Not upheld Mental health services 06-Dec-2021

Summary: We found fault by the Council as it failed to secure full-time educational provision for Mr K, a young person with complex needs. We also found the Council failed to arrange regular overnight respite care for Mr K. This placed significant pressure on Mr K’s relationship with his mother, Ms J, and caused them both significant distress. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr K and Ms J and pay a financial remedy in recognition of the impact of this fault on them. We found no fault with the care provided to Mr K by the Mental Health Trust.

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (19 019 459a)

Statement Upheld Hospital acute services 03-Dec-2021

Summary: Mrs D complained about flaws in her late mother, Mrs M’s, discharge from hospital and the care she received in her own home. Both the Council and the Trust acted with fault, which have led to uncertainty and distress for Mrs D. The Council and Trust have accepted our recommendations, so we have completed our investigation.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (21 008 948a)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Hospital acute services 02-Dec-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Ms P’s complaint about the Council’s decision to not carry out an Education Health and Care needs assessment. This is because it would have been reasonable for Ms P to have used her appeal rights.

North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust (20 007 659a)

Statement Upheld Hospital acute services 25-Nov-2021

Summary: The NHS Trust failed to involve the Council as soon as possible so that it could start care planning. This unnecessarily delayed Ms E’s discharge from hospital by three weeks. Ms E was schizophrenic; the prolonged hospital stay had an adverse impact on her mental health. Her mother, Ms D, was offering a lot of support. It was distressing for Ms D witnessing Ms E’s distress. Ms E has died so we cannot remedy her injustice. For the impact on Ms D over the avoidable three-week period, the NHS Trust will apologise and pay Ms D £600. The NHS Trust will also review its discharge policy.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (20 004 066a)

Statement Upheld Other 24-Nov-2021

Summary: The Ombudsmen find there were failings in the way a Council and Trust handled a safeguarding referral and a subsequent complaint about the same matter. However, there is no evidence this led to a personal injustice.