Decision report 201101389

Summary
Mrs C contacted her medical practice to request an ambulance to take her to an out-patient appointment at hospital. She said the practice refused to tell her who decided that she could not have an ambulance. She wanted to know who had made this decision and to receive an apology from them.

We found that at the time of Mrs C request, it was noted in the surgery's duty doctor book, then discussed by the receptionist and the duty doctor who then discussed the request with a second GP who was more familiar with Mrs C. The second GP told our office that he advised the duty doctor that he was trying to get Mrs C 'out and about' to improve her mobility and that he thought it perfectly reasonable for her to make her own way to the hospital. The duty doctor was responsible for making the final decision and decided, on the basis of what the other GP had said, that Mrs C did not require transport.

It was clear that it was the duty doctor who refused the request. As there was evidence that the surgery and the duty doctor had already told Mrs C who had made the decision and had already apologised both in correspondence and in person for any distress caused, we did not uphold the complaint.