Decision report 201004154

Summary
Mrs C complained that she was removed from the practice list without warning or reasonable explanation. She also complained that the practice failed to give her advice about, or treat, a leg injury. In addition, Mrs C complained that the practice failed to refer her to appropriate specialists for treatment for ongoing health problems.

We did not uphold the complaint about referral to specialists. We found from looking at the practice's records and taking advice from one of our clinical advisers, that Mrs C was referred appropriately. We also found that, as Mrs C went to hospital for her leg injury, the practice were not responsible for treating it. The practice said they gave Mrs C appropriate advice about her leg injury. However, because they did not have a record of this, we upheld the complaint. We also upheld the complaint that Mrs C was removed from the list without warning, as we felt that the practice could have given one. However, we agreed that the practice had given Mrs C a reasonable explanation when they did remove her from the list.

Recommendations
We recommended that the practice:
• review their practice on making records of telephone conversations, with a view to making records where advice is given to a patient to attend a hospital department, or treatment advice is given; and
• review their policy on removal of patients from the list, to incorporate guidance on providing reasonable warning to patients who might be at risk of removal from the list.