Mr A complained about the GP Practice’s complaint response about his mother’s management and care in February 2024. Mr A also complained about a later period of care (in April ) that the GP Practice had not had an opportunity to consider.
The Ombudsman exercised her discretion and decided to look into this aspect of Mr A’s complaint.
As part of the settlement the GP Practice were asked to provide a written response to address the specific concerns that Mr A had raised about his mother’s management in the February; apologise to Mr A and his mother for the shortcomings in complaint handling and the distress that shortcomings in the second episode of care had caused them.
Additionally, the Medical Practice was to reinforce at an appropriate forum to non-clinical staff appropriate clinical/non-clinical boundaries during patient interactions which would include situations where clinical input is required as well as review the April episode of care and identify areas for learning. Finally, if this is not already in place, the GP Practice should ensure that patient contact with non-clinical staff was appropriately recorded in the patient’s clinical records.
