Summary
Mr C complained to us on behalf of his late father (Mr A) who was diagnosed with and subsequently died as a result of septic arthritis (a serious type of joint infection). Mr C complained that the practice failed to provide reasonable care and treatment in relation to Mr A's shoulder pain, including providing phone consultations rather than face-to-face assessments and that the practice did not refer Mr A for x-ray or to orthopaedics (specialism that deals with diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system). Mr C considered that this had caused delays with Mr A being diagnosed with joint sepsis.
We found that the practice's consultations and care and treatment that Mr A received were reasonable, including referring Mr A to physiotherapy. Therefore, we did not uphold this complaint.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201808146 as a PDF (24.1 KB) Updated: March 18, 2020