Decision report 201201260

Summary

Mrs C complained about the care and treatment given to her son (Master A) by out-of-hours GPs. Master A became increasingly unwell over the Christmas holiday period of 2011/12. He was twice seen by out-of-hours GPs in hospital but Mrs C said that he was not diagnosed properly or quickly enough, as a consequence of which he became severely ill. She also said that the board failed to properly deal with her complaint about this.

We investigated the complaint and took all the relevant documentation into account. We obtained independent advice from one of our medical advisers and reviewed Master A's clinical notes. We did not, however, uphold the complaint. Our adviser said that Master A's situation was a rare one and that most children with his symptoms would have recovered without hospital intervention. However, both out-of-hours doctors had responded appropriately and treated him satisfactorily.