Decision report 201101066

Summary
Mrs C complained that her GP practice's actions in in relation to her daughter, Ms A, were unreasonable.

As Ms A had had severe stomach pain for a couple of hours, Mrs C telephoned the practice. The receptionist told her that the triage GP was unavailable to decide what priority she should have and that there was no point bringing her daughter in as the other GPs were with patients. The receptionist said someone would call her back very soon and sought the advice of one of the GPs. On the GP's advice, the receptionist told Mrs C that, in the absence of the triage GP, it would be better if she brought her daughter in, so that any necessary treatment could then be considered without any further delay. The receptionist could not promise that a GP would be available to see Ms A straight away. Mrs C brought her daughter in, and they were seen 15 minutes later.

Our investigation found that the receptionist had acted appropriately in seeking GP advice in the absence of the triage GP, in calling Mrs C back promptly and in resisting pressure to make promises that she was not in a position to make. We also considered that, in the circumstances at the time, it was reasonable that no GP was immediately available and, therefore, we did not uphold the complaint.