A practice in the Hertfordshire area

3. Mrs A complains about the care and treatment she had from the Practice in March 2023. She complains:

• the doctor did not properly assess her and dismissed the symptoms of a stroke • the Practice did not check her blood pressure when she had symptoms of a stroke • there was a delay in getting blister packs (a medication aid to help patients take tablets at the right time of the day) for her prescription medication and the Practice only agreed to prescribe them temporarily without any charges • the wrong prescription was done at first which meant some medications were missing and some were over or under prescribed.

4. Mrs A says she now has limited movement in her right arm and hand, is unable to care for herself and needs carers for personal care including getting washed, dressed and preparing meals. She feels this could have been prevented or the symptoms may not have been as bad if the doctor had assessed her symptoms and diagnosed her stroke earlier.

5. She also says she cannot afford to pay for blister packs because she is on a state pension and she needs them because she is very frail, feels vulnerable living alone and cannot administer medication one handed.

6. Mrs A says she suffers from anxiety and is extremely reluctant to see the doctor as she has lost all confidence in their ability to care for her.

7. Mrs A would like the Practice to accept its failings, apologise, put service improvements in place and make a financial payment to her.

8. Mrs A contacted the Practice on 20 March 2023 because she was experiencing loss of movement and use of her right hand and fingers. She was given an urgent appointment for the afternoon and was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (pressure on a nerve in your wrist that causes tingling, numbness and pain in your hand and fingers).

9. Mrs A’s symptoms got worse over the next day so she contacted the Practice again. Her right arm had gone limp and she could not move it.

10. The doctor contacted Mrs A shortly after and arranged for an ambulance to come to her home.

11. Mrs A was taken to hospital and diagnosed with two strokes and spent two weeks at hospital having treatment.

12. She was discharged from the hospital to a rehabilitation centre to have more treatment.

13. Six weeks later she was discharged home but had limited movement in her right arm and hand and needed carers to help with basic care needs.

14. After being discharged, Mrs A experienced a delay in getting her blister packs and she says the prescription was not done correctly.

15. Mrs A continues to recover at home and is having occupational therapy treatment.

17. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (the law) says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances.

18. We discussed this with Mrs B to understand Mrs A’s circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed, but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

19. A legal route exists when legal action can achieve the outcome wanted.

20. We understand Mrs A feels the Practice did not properly assess her symptoms and diagnose her stroke soon enough and because of this the outcome of her stroke was more serious. She would like the Practice to make a financial payment to her. This is something that could be dealt with as part of a clinical negligence claim.

21. Mrs B confirmed Mrs A is happy to get legal advice and speak to a solicitor. She has not made us aware of any barriers that would stop her from doing this.

22. The law is clear that we cannot investigate a complaint where there is a legal route available and it is reasonable for the complainant to take this. Having considered the evidence, we have decided it is reasonable for her to look into legal action.

23. A court can independently review the complaint, decide if there has been clinical negligence and recommend a financial payment. A successful negligence claim could consider any future costs Mrs A may need to meet her basic care needs. We hope this information helps Mrs A to progress her complaint and achieve the outcomes she wants.

24. It is unlikely that her complaints about prescriptions could be dealt with by legal action. But they are linked to her complaint. Because of this, we have decided it is not right for us to investigate this part of the complaint in isolation. We explained to Mrs B that if Mrs A is unable to take legal action, she can come back to us. She should do so quickly as we have a 12 month time limit for considering complaints.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs A’s complaint about the treatment she had from a GP practice in the Hertfordshire area (the Practice). We are sorry to hear about the impact this had on her and the challenges she faces. We understand Mrs A has been through a very difficult and distressing time.

2. We have decided to take no further action because we think Mrs A could take a legal route to achieve the outcome she wants. We are sorry for any added distress this may cause and hope our explanation below clearly explains our decision.