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Case ref:201502517
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Date:May 2016
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Body:A Medical Practice in the Highland NHS Board area
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:appointments / admissions (delay / cancellation / waiting lists)
Summary
Mrs C complained that the practice cancelled an important appointment with the practice nurse without giving her notice. Mrs C moved to a different practice, and she complained there was delay in sending her medical records to the new practice.
We found that the practice could have told Mrs C sooner that the appointment had been cancelled, and there was no record that they had tried to contact her before she arrived for the appointment. We also found that the practice should have tried to re-arrange the appointment for Mrs C, or arrange an alternative appointment nearby. In addition, we found that there was an unexplained delay of several weeks in the practice sending Mrs C's medical records to her new practice. We upheld Mrs C's complaints.
Shortly after Mrs C complained to the practice, it changed management from GPs to the local health board, as the GPs had left the area. Given these specific circumstances, we did not make recommendations to the health board, as they were not responsible for running the practice at the time of the events complained about. However, we asked the board to confirm whether any relevant staff currently working at the practice were there at the time of the events complained about and, if so, to share our findings with them so they could learn lessons from what happened, to try to ensure that similar problems do not arise again.