Decision Report 201800348

Summary

Mrs C complained to us that the medical practice had failed to provide appropriate care and treatment to her mother (Mrs A) at a home visit. She said that her mother had been dizzy, light-headed and off her feet and that she suffered from high blood pressure. Mrs C said that the GP recognised her mother's high blood pressure but did not take any further action and told her to wait for the district nurses, who were scheduled to visit in three days time, and that they would take further blood pressure readings, which Mrs C considered to be unreasonable. Mrs C called out the out-of-hours GP later that evening as her mother's blood pressure was still high. The offer of a hospital referral was made but Mrs A declined the offer. Mrs A was admitted to hospital two days later for a suspected heart attack and remained a patient for nearly two weeks.

We took independent advice from a GP adviser and concluded that the practice had provided a reasonable level of care. We found that the GP had carried out a reasonable examination and had concluded that there was no indication of an acute illness. The GP felt that the cause of the high blood pressure was caused by Mrs A's anxiety. It was appropriate to check the blood pressure readings and we considered that, as the district nurses were scheduled to visit a couple of days later, the matter would receive appropriate follow-up at that time. We did not uphold the complaint.