Decision Report 201304510

Summary

Mrs C complained to us about aspects of treatment provided to her mother (Mrs A) by GPs at her medical practice. She was concerned that at a home visit a GP did not admit Mrs A to hospital, although later she had to go there. When Mrs A was discharged from hospital there was a problem with her medication.

Our investigation found that although the GP's records were not as thorough as they should have been, which we pointed out to the practice, she had carried out a reasonable assessment of Mrs A at the home visit and that at that time there was no clinical reason for a hospital admission. We took independent advice from one of our medical advisers, who said the GP had used her clinical judgement in a reasonable manner and had provided appropriate advice about what the family should do if Mrs A's health deteriorated over the weekend. We also found that the practice acted reasonably when told that Mrs A needed additional medication, and that her care was not compromised by a slight delay in obtaining the medication when it was not in stock at the local pharmacy.