Decision Report 201604204

  • Case ref:
    201604204
  • Date:
    May 2017
  • Body:
    A Medical Practice in the Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board area
  • Sector:
    Health
  • Outcome:
    Not upheld, no recommendations
  • Subject:
    clinical treatment / diagnosis

Summary

Mrs C complained about the medical practice with regards to the care and treatment provided to her husband (Mr A). Mrs C said that the GP failed to ensure that Mr A's diagnosis of a rare type of cancer was followed up and that had the GP acted differently, Mr A would have been offered earlier treatment.

We took independent medical advice from a GP. We found that the practice had not been told that the diagnosis of cancer was definitive, but rather that it had been communicated as a 'suspicion of diagnosis'. We found that there was no obligation for the practice to record this if it was not definitive. Additionally, we found that it was not the practice's responsibility to ensure that further tests and reviews were being carried out as this was the responsibility of secondary care. Therefore we did not uphold Mrs C's complaint.

Updated: March 13, 2018