Decision Report 201502638

Summary

Mr C complained that his GP practice did not offer him an urgent appointment with a doctor after he attended the practice with chest pain. Mr C turned down the offer of an appointment with the nurse as he felt his symptoms were too severe. The duty doctor called him later that day and offered an appointment for the next working day (which was a Monday). Mr C chose instead to attend A&E where it was identified that he had a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). The practice accepted and apologised that Mr C should have been offered an urgent appointment to be seen the same day given his reported symptoms.

We took independent advice from a GP. We were concerned about the procedures in place at the practice for managing patient appointments. There was a lack of evidence to demonstrate that non-clinical staff were adequately trained and supervised in the procedures. We concluded that the care provided by the practice fell below a reasonable standard, and we upheld Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the practice:

• work with Lanarkshire NHS Board to review their patient signposting procedures as a matter of urgency.