Decision Report 201600377

Summary

Mr C complained about the way his medication was handled by the prison healthcare centre, in particular that his medication had been stopped, the board had stopped his medication before investigating his complaint about the medication and that the board did not reinstate his medication.

We took independent GP advice. We found that the decision to stop Mr C's medication was taken in line with the board's and the General Medical Council's guidance on safe prescribing. Mr C had signed an agreement before starting the medication which set out the circumstances under which the medication could be stopped. We were satisfied that the decision to stop the medication was taken in line with this agreement. The evidence demonstrated that when Mr C's medication was being stopped, he was reviewed by a doctor and was offered support in line with policy. The advice we received was that the decision to not restart Mr C's medication was reasonable and in line with policy. We did not uphold these complaints.

Mr C was also unhappy with the handling of his complaints, in particular that there had been an unreasonable delay by the board in dealing with his complaint. He also said that the investigation of his complaint had been inadequate, and that the response to his complaint was unreasonable. We decided to consider these issues together. We were satisfied that the board had handled Mr C's complaint in line with the complaints process and therefore did not uphold his complaint about delay. We were also satisfied that the board had adequately investigated his complaint and did not uphold that complaint. Finally, we were satisfied that the board's response to Mr C's complaint was reasonable and did not uphold his complaint.