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Decision Report 201602308

  • Case ref:
    201602308
  • Date:
    January 2017
  • Body:
    A Medical Practice in the the Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board area
  • Sector:
    Health
  • Outcome:
    Some upheld, recommendations
  • Subject:
    clinical treatment / diagnosis

Summary

Ms C complained about care she received from her medical practice. When Ms C received a copy of her medical notes she found that during a previous consultation two years earlier, the GP had noted a mild vaginal prolapse and had not told her about this. Ms C complained that she should have been told about the prolapse and treated for it, and that the practice had not reasonably responded to her complaint.

We sought independent medical advice and found that while the failure to inform Ms C of this incidental finding had not caused significant harm to her, the GP should reflect on this decision further. We upheld this complaint.

However, the adviser's view was that the decision not to provide treatment at the time was reasonable, as was the response to Ms C's complaint. We therefore did not uphold this aspect of Ms C's complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the practice:

  • reflect on the decision not to inform the patient of an incidental finding.

Updated: March 13, 2018