Mr A’s complaint centred on the alleged delay by a GP Practice in the area of Hywel Dda University Health Board (“the GP Practice”) in October 2021 with diagnosing his father, Mr D, with spinal issues and kidney cancer.
The Ombudsman did not find an undue delay in the GP Practice carrying out investigations that led to the diagnosis of Mr D’s cancer. Based on Mr D’s clinical presentation, the conclusion that Mr D’s shoulder pain was musculoskeletal related and therefore required physiotherapy input (from the GP Practice’s in-house physiotherapist and later the physiotherapist team at the local hospital), was not unreasonable. By 21 February 2022 Mr D’s evolving symptoms, coupled with information from the specialist physiotherapist based at the local hospital, led the GP Practice to request a chest X-ray. Mr D was subsequently diagnosed with advanced renal cancer. The Ombudsman did not uphold Mr A’s complaint.