Decision Report 201703214

Summary

Mr C complained about the medical treatment which his late friend (Mr A) received when a request was made for the out-of-hours (OOH) service GP to call at the house and assess Mr A. Mr C said that the OOH GP examined Mr A and decided that he should be admitted to hospital. However, they did not request an immediate ambulance and ordered another ambulance to arrive within a two hour timeframe. Mr C complained that the OOH service failed to appropriately assess Mr A and failed to call for an immediate ambulance.

We took independent medical advice from a GP. We found that the OOH GP had carried out a thorough assessment based on Mr A's medical history and his presenting symptoms. It was reasonable for them to arrive at a working diagnosis that Mr A had an infection and that he required a hospital admission. However, there was no evidence of sepsis and we found that it was appropriate to order an ambulance to arrive within a two hour timeframe as Mr A did not meet the criteria for a 999 ambulance. We did not uphold Mr C's complaints.