PSOW Individual Decisions

Mr X complained about the care provided to his mother, Mrs Y, by her GP Practice. He complained that: • There was a delay in providing Mrs Y with a clear and accurate diagnosis. • Mrs Y was not advised that the reason for a scan she received in January 2018 was to investigate whether she had cancer. Mr X also complained about the care provided to Mrs Y by the Health Boards. Specifically, Mr X complained that: • There was a delay in providing Mrs Y with a clear diagnosis between January and September 2018. • Communication between staff and the family was poor from September 2018 until February 2019. • Information regarding clinical trials was unreasonably not provided to Mrs Y between September and December 2018. • Mrs Y was treated with radiotherapy inappropriately and without her having a reasonable knowledge of the intended purpose of the treatment between September and December 2018. • The Oncology Service operated an unreasonable expectation that meant patients were only seen if they were able to physically attend consultant appointments. • The First Health Board did not handle the family’s complaint properly. The Ombudsman upheld the complaint against the Practice that there was a delay in providing Mrs Y with a clear and accurate diagnosis. The Practice initially diagnosed Mrs Y with polymyalgia rheumatica. Whilst this was not unreasonable, the Practice should have reviewed the diagnosis sooner once it became apparent that Mrs Y’s inflammatory markers were not responding to steroid treatment. The Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint about Mrs Y not being told the reason for the scan by the Practice – on balance it was likely from the evidence that Mrs Y was aware of the reason for the scan. The Ombudsman found there was a small delay in providing Mrs Y with a clear diagnosis between January and September 2018, and as this would have added to her anxiety, she upheld the complaint to that extent only. She also found that there were some failings in communicati

Ms M complained on behalf of her friend, Ms A, about the care that Ms A received from the GP Practice and the nurse practitioner in August 2017. The GP had also failed to review Ms A’s anti-psychotic medication. In relation to the Health Board, Ms M’s concerns centred on Ms A’s care during her inpatient admission at Amman Valley Hospital (“the Community Hospital”). She also complained about Ms A’s Community Mental Health Team (“CMHT”) care following Ms A’s discharge from the Hospital. Finally, Ms M was unhappy with the Health Board’s handling of her complaint. The Ombudsman’s investigation found that the care provided by the GP Practice and the Health Board was reasonable and appropriate and consistent with accepted clinical practice. He did not uphold these aspects of Ms M’s complaint. The Ombudsman was however, critical about the Health Board’s tardiness in the handling of Ms M’s complaint and upheld this part of her complaint. The Ombudsman recommended that the Health Board apologise to Ms M for the failure to respond to her initial complaint and the subsequent delay in complaint handling.

Complaint about prescription script not being ready when complainant says he was told it would be. The script was not signed. There is also a concern that the complainant covertly records telephone calls with the GP without their consent.

Lack of GP complaint response