Decision Report 201508047

  • Case ref:
    201508047
  • Date:
    May 2017
  • Body:
    Forth Valley NHS Board
  • Sector:
    Health
  • Outcome:
    Not upheld, recommendations
  • Subject:
    clinical treatment / diagnosis

Summary

Mr C complained about the way his medication was handled by the prison health centre, in particular that his medication was changed and that his complaints about pain had been ignored.

We took independent GP advice. We found that, when reviewing Mr C's medication, the prison health centre had acted in line with the General Medical Council guidelines on prescribing. We also found that the care provided to Mr C in terms of his pain management was reasonable. We therefore did not uphold the complaint.

Mr C also complained that a doctor based at the health centre had inappropriately stated that he hated migrants. We found no evidence to support Mr C's allegation and were satisfied that the allegation had been investigated by the board, including speaking to the doctor involved. However, we noted that there was no written record of the discussions with the doctor as part of the investigation. We were also satisfied that the decisions made in relation to Mr C's clinical management were based on the advice available to clinicians. As such we did not uphold this aspect of Mr C's complaint.

Mr C was also unhappy with the handling of his complaint. We were satisfied that the board had handled Mr C's complaint in line with the complaints process and therefore did not uphold this complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the board:

  • provide an update on the action taken to ensure that relevant staff keep a written record of conversations held with clinicians as part of a complaint investigation.

Updated: March 13, 2018