Mr Y complained that a GP Practice in the area of Swansea Bay University Health Board (“the Practice”) incorrectly removed him for its patient list at the end of 2020. He said the Practice failed to give him a written warning, failed to give him a reason for the decision to remove him from the patient list and failed to arrange an informal meeting with him to discuss the Practice’s decision.
The National Health Service (General Medical Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2004 (“the Regulations”) outline the circumstances when a patient can be removed from a GP practice list. The Ombudsman found that the decision to remove Mr Y from the Practice list was in accordance with the Regulations as was the decision not to give him a reason for the decision to remove him. However, the Practice should have documented a statement of reasons for Mr Y’s removal, the grounds why it felt it was not appropriate for a specific reason to be given to Mr Y, notified him that he was being removed from the patient list and explained to him that it was not required to give specific reasons for the decision. This was maladministration which caused Mr Y an injustice as the Practice failed to notify him of the decision to remove him from its patient list. The Practice was not required under the Regulations to arrange an informal meeting with Mr Y. The Ombudsman upheld the complaint to the extent that the Practice should have written to Mr Y to confirm that he was being removed from its patient list.
The Practice agreed to apologise to Mr Y for not notifying him of the decision to remove him from its patient list, review the application of the Regulations in relation to patient removal and review its removal policy.