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Case ref:200903567
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Date:January 2012
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Body:A Medical Practice, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Some upheld, recommendations
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Subject:Communication, staff attitude, dignity, confidentiality
Summary
Mrs C told us that she accompanied her daughter to the medical centre to see a doctor, as her daughter had suffered an allergic reaction to silicone. An incident occurred within the premises. Mrs C's daughter was subsequently removed from the practice list for inappropriate violence and abuse towards staff.
Differing accounts of what happened have been given by Mrs C and her daughter compared with those of the practice nurse and practice manager. Mrs C wrote to one of the doctors saying that her daughter had not been abusive towards staff and asked that she be allowed to re-register. After the medical centre cancelled a meeting to discuss Mrs C's concerns, she made a formal complaint to the board as she was concerned that the medical centre were not interested in resolving the issues she had raised. The board explained to Mrs C the complaints process for family health services and acted as an intermediary between her and the medical centre.
The complaint we investigated was about the way that staff treated Mrs C's daughter on the day she attended the practice, and the way in which the medical centre handled the complaint. We found that there was insufficient evidence to support the complaint that staff had mistreated her daughter. However, we established that the medical centre did not respond to the complaint in full in good time, and we concluded that there was evidence of poor complaints handling.
Recommendations
We recommended that the practice remind staff dealing with complaints to:
• respond to all the issues raised and ensure that the letter is clearly addressed, dated and contains relevant information on who has carried out the investigation and issued the letter; and
• respond within the time frame set out in the guidance document 'Making a Complaint about the NHS'.