Decision Report 201802921

Summary

Ms C complained on behalf of her father (Mr A) that it was unreasonable for the practice to refuse Mr A a home visit. Mr A had been seen by the practice the day before and the next day a home visit was requested for him. The practice did not consider that a home visit was required and asked Mr A to attend, which he agreed to. Ms C said that Mr A required urgent medical attention and should have been seen at home.

We took independent medical advice and found that whilst there were differing accounts of what was discussed during the call requesting a home visit, there was no evidence in the medical records of clinical symptoms which were described during the call, nor in the notes from Mr A's appointment the previous day, which would have suggested a house call was required. We found that the practice's policy on home visits was reasonable and was applied appropriately in the circumstances. Therefore, we did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.

Ms C also complained that the practice's response to her complaint was unreasonable. We found that the practice failed to communicate with Ms C in line with their complaints handling procedure. Therefore, we upheld this aspect of the complaint. We noted that the practice had apologised for this but made a further recommendation for learning and improvement.

Recommendations

In relation to complaints handling, we recommended:

• All staff who handle complaints should be made aware of the findings of our investigation and reminded of the requirements of the complaints handling procedure.