Decision Report 202007689

Summary

C, an advice worker, complained on behalf of their client (B) about the treatment which B’s late adult child (A) received from their GP practice. The practice is being managed by the board. A had contacted the practice on a number of occasions over a six-month period reporting problems with their mental health. A was a student studying away from home.

A subsequently completed suicide. B felt that the staff from the practice had failed to take fully into account A’s personal circumstances which all pointed to the fact that A was at increased risk of attempting suicide and that they failed to provide them with appropriate treatment.

We took independent clinical advice from a GP. We found that the GPs involved had formed a good relationship with A. They had recorded A’s mental health symptoms and provided a reasonable level of care and treatment by prescribing appropriate medication and monitoring A’s behaviour. There was also the involvement of a counsellor but there was nothing to indicate that A was going to take their own life. We did not uphold the complaint.