Summary
Miss C had her tonsils removed. After the procedure, she was in a great deal of pain and unable to eat and drink. Five days after the procedure, she went to see her GP about these symptoms. Miss C said that her GP just looked at the back of her throat and did not take her temperature or carry out any other tests. Miss C also said that her GP suggested she should go to the ear nose and throat (ENT) ward if she had any further problems, although her understanding was that she could not do this. The GP diagnosed post-operative pain and muscle spasm and prescribed strong analgesia (pain relief) and anti-inflammatory gargles (solutions used to treat throat conditions).
We upheld Miss C's complaint and made two recommendations. Our investigation found that, while the GP's diagnosis and the medication prescribed were reasonable, his advice to attend ENT was not helpful.
Recommendations
We recommended that the practice: review their actions in light of the findings; and apologise to Miss C for the failings identified.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201200240 as a PDF (12.63 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018