Mother loses action over decision by ombudsman not to investigate records loss
The mother of a woman who died as an inpatient at a London hospital has lost a High Court challenge against the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) over its refusal to investigate the loss of her daughter’s medical records.
Irene Morris’s daughter, Alexis, died of a urinary tract infection on 12 July 2011 after five years as an inpatient at St Thomas’ Hospital. She had been diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2005.
Mrs Morris subsequently requested Alexis’ medical records from the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. However, the trust could not supply a full set of records.
Her lawyers, Bindman & Partners, said the trust had “never produced significant records relating to oncology, chemotherapy and pharmacy amongst other aspects of Alexis’s treatment, without proper explanation for their loss”.
When Mrs Morris complained to the PHSO, the Ombudsman said the loss of records was “unreasonable”, but it would have been unable to find them and therefore saw no reason to investigate.
Mrs Morris, advised by the law firm and Philip Coppel QC of Landmark Chambers, brought a judicial review action against the Ombudsman’s refusal to investigate.
The trust subsequently found some of the missing records, and conducted a futher investigation. This led to another complaint by Mrs Morris to the PHSO.
According to Bindmans, the Ombudsman agreed to investigate, but “refused to expedite their own procedures in order to confirm the scope, which could have resolved matters, prior to [the High Court] hearing”.
Mr Justice Jay gave his judgment at the end of the hearing, rejecting Mrs Morris’ application for judicial review. The judge concluded that the PHSO’s interpretation of her complaint was reasonable.
He expressed “considerable sympathy” for Mrs Morris on the basis that she had been given the “metaphorical run around” by the Trust, which had “not covered itself in glory”, Bindmans said.
The judge reportedly found that the trust had “unsatisfactory systems”, that they had “fallen short” and therefore “someone should investigate".
The judge urged the Ombudsman to investigate Mrs Morris’ “fresh complaint in full and in accordance with the claimant’s wishes.”
Mrs Morris said: “While obviously disappointed not to succeed in my legal claim, I do not consider this to be loss. Mr Justice Jay rightly recognised that there were serious concerns regarding the Trust’s record-keeping during Alexis’s time in hospital that should be investigated.
“In accordance with the judge’s suggestion, I can only hope that the Ombudsman will investigate such matters in full to ensure that this cannot happen again.”
A Parliamentary and Health Service spokesman said: “We are pleased the judge recognised that we acted reasonably in this case. We never wanted this to come to court and made every effort to settle the case without legal proceedings.
“We have accepted a complaint from Mrs Morris to investigate the adequacy of Guys and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust’s recent investigation into the loss of her daughter’s medical records and hope the independent, impartial investigation we are carrying out will give Mrs Morris the answers she seeks and brings her some closure with regards to what has happened.”
