Thursday 22 October: Complaint form offline

The supplier of our case management system has confirmed that they are experiencing a significant technical issue.

At present, we have no access to the case management system and we are currently unable to provide updates on existing cases.

We are planning on the basis that this could continue for a period of time including for the remainder of this week.

If you would like to check if your complaint is ready for the SPSO or enquire about making a new complaint, please complete our Complaint Checker.  

Please be assured we are doing all we can and will provide updates on our website. 

For an all service update: Service update | SPSO

Decision Report 201600674

  • Case ref:
    201600674
  • Date:
    November 2016
  • Body:
    A Medical Practice in the Lothian NHS Board area
  • Sector:
    Health
  • Outcome:
    Not upheld, no recommendations
  • Subject:
    clinical treatment / diagnosis

Summary

Mr C complained that the medical practice unreasonably failed to offer his son (Mr A) a referral for varicose vein surgery. Mr C was concerned that this was affecting Mr A's mental health. He was of the view that the practice were refusing to refer him for surgery because of Mr A's mental health problems.

We took independent clinical advice. We found that the practice had carried out a proper examination of Mr A and had noted that his varicose vein was not causing him discomfort. As a result of this, the practice were correct in following the board's guidance on the treatment of varicose veins which said that in instances such as this, varicose veins should be treated conservatively and surgical referrals should not be made. As a result, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.

Related reading

Updated: March 13, 2018