Decision Report 201707258

Summary

Miss C complained about the length of time which she was going to have to wait for an appointment at an orthopaedic clinic (a clinic for conditions involving the musculoskeletal system). Following a car accident a number of years ago Miss  C had seen a number of health professionals. She also took numerous forms of medication but remained in severe pain. Her GP referred her to the orthopaedic clinic and the referral was marked as routine. After six months Miss  C had not received an appointment date. Her GP made a further referral to orthopaedics, and was told that the current waiting time was 48 weeks. Miss  C complained that, despite two referrals from her GP, her case was not being treated as urgent by the board.

We took independent advice from an adviser in orthopaedic medicine. We found that, although the board had not managed to arrange the orthopaedic appointment within the treatment time guarantee, they had apologised for the delay and had explained what action they were taking in an effort to reduce waiting times. We found that the board had correctly classified both of the GP referral letters as routine rather than urgent based on the information provided by the GP. We did not uphold the complaint.