Decision Report 201605356

Summary

Ms C complained on behalf of her late mother (Mrs A) about the care and treatment she received from her GP practice. Ms C considered that Mrs A's medication was changed inappropriately, that Mrs A was not given appropriate treatment for her symptoms and there was a failure to communicate reasonably with Mrs A and her family about her condition. Ms C also complained about the handling of her complaint.

During our investigation we took independent GP advice. We found that Mrs A's practice gave appropriate treatment for her symptoms, but delayed in making an urgent referral to a consultant geriatrician and a routine referral to a dietician. They also delayed in issuing Mrs A with a prescription. In light of these delays, we upheld this aspect of Ms C's complaint and made recommendations to address this.

We found that it was reasonable that Mrs A's medication was changed, and did not consider that there were failings in communication by the practice. We considered the handling of Ms C's complaint to be reasonable and, therefore, we did not uphold these aspects of her complaint.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise to Ms C for the delay in referring Mrs A to the consultant geriatrician and for the delay in issuing her the prescription. The apology should comply with the SPSO guidelines on making an apology.

What we said should change to put things right in future:

• The GP should review their clinical management plans, following house visits, to ensure their prescribing is complete.

We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.