An independent provider in the North East Lincolnshire area

4. Mr Y complains about service he received from the Practice between September 2024 and June 2025.

5. Specifically, he said the Practice:

• did not inform a GP or Northeast Lincolnshire Safeguarding Team of safeguarding concerns he raised about his children • denied him the ability to discuss his daughters’ care and treatment, saying his details were not on the system.

6. Mr Y said the impact of the claimed failings are significant emotional distress, frustration and anxiety. He said he felt helpless and excluded at a time when his children needed his support. He told us he experienced stress from not knowing if safeguarding concerns were acted upon. Mr Y said he was left chasing answers, resending documents, calling, visiting practice with no results. This took him a significant amount of time.

7. He told us had to change GP practice for his children, as he was unable to discuss their medical issues. He said he felt discriminated against for being male. Mr Y said his trust in the health system has been damaged.

8. Mr Y is looking for service improvements and an apology. He is looking for an explanation and financial remedy.

9. This brief background is only intended to place the key events in context, not to provide a full, chronological account of everything that happened.

10. Mr Y has children with his ex-partner. A court order gave both parents equal custody over their daughters (Miss C and Miss W), who, at the time of the issues, lived with their mother.

11. In late 2024, Mr Y sent an email to the Practice raising safeguarding concerns about his daughters. The Family Court had authorised this report to be shared to medical professionals. Mr Y did not get a response to this email.

12. He also told us, around the same time, he tried to order repeat medication for Miss W. The Practice told him he was not shown as having parental consent on his children’s medical records. The Practice said it could not discuss information about his daughters’ health with him.

13. Between October 2024 and March 2025, he tried to obtain information about his daughters’ health and safeguarding. The Practice refused to provide him with this information.

16. Before we decide if we should conduct a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not found any indications that something has gone wrong.

Raising safeguarding concerns

17. Mr Y told us in October 2024, he sent the Practice an email raising safeguarding concerns about his daughters who were registered at the Practice. He said the Practice did not tell him what action it took about his concerns. He believes it did not action his concerns appropriately.

18. The Practice said it appropriately escalated the concerns to the safeguarding lead at Northeast Lincolnshire Council. The safeguarding lead advised the Practice they were following this up and they (the safeguarding lead) would liaise with the children’s social worker.

19. The CCL safeguarding policy says if a safeguarding concern is identified, it should be reported to either children’s social care or the Northeast Lincolnshire multi-agency safeguarding hub.

20. We have seen evidence the Practice did inform Northeast Lincolnshire safeguarding team. The Practice sent Mr Y’s email of concern to the Northeast Lincolnshire safeguarding lead by email on 22 October 2024. In the email, it asked if Mr Y should be contacting the children’s social worker.

21. We have not seen a response from the safeguarding lead to the Practice in October. We note Mr Y did include the children’s social worker in his initial email to the Practice, about his concern.

22. Based on the evidence we have seen, we consider the Practice did raise the safeguarding concerns appropriately. While it did not report the concerns to children’s social care or the Northeast Lincolnshire multi-agency safeguarding hub, it did report directly to the safeguarding lead. Children’s social care was already aware of Mr Y’s concerns from his email to it.

23. We have seen no evidence of an indication of failings in the Practice’s action. We will take no further action.

24. We recognise it was not clear to Mr Y, the Practice had acted on his concerns. Given it raised his concerns to the safeguarding team, this does not change our view. The Practice acted appropriately.

Denying Mr Y the ability to discuss his daughters’ care and treatment

25. Mr Y told us between September 2024 and June 2025 the Practice told him he was not shown as having parental responsibility (PR) on his daughters’ medical records. This meant he could not order repeat medication for them. He said the Practice would not discuss information about his daughters’ health and safeguarding with him.

26. The Practice said in line with CCS confidentiality policy, it must confirm PR before disclosing any information about a child. It apologised for any distress this caused.

27. The CCS confidentiality policy says in the case of children and young people, information may only be shared with an individual who has parental responsibility, and only where it is appropriate to do so in line with legal requirements, professional guidance and the best interests of the patient. Staff must take reasonable steps to verify parental responsibility where there is any doubt and respect a competent young person’s right to confidentiality where applicable.

28. The policy says PR says it should be established at registration. PR should be verified if concerns arise and recorded clearly on the system. The policy says no member of staff may disclose any information about a patient, their circumstances, medical condition, or treatment, directly or indirectly to another member of staff or member of the public. This is unless a doctor or manager of the Practice gives express permission for that disclosure at the time.

29. The Practice policy on information sharing says PR should be asked about at registration. It should be verified if concerns arise. PR should be recorded clearly in the system. If children are known to social care the records should be clearly coded. It says the Practice is to share information with relevant professionals and contribute to the safeguarding process.

30. Medical records for Miss W show in November 2024 show the Practice was happy to do a prescription for Mr Y to collect and to repeat in a month time when he requests it.

31. In December, there is evidence of Mr Y ordering a repeat prescription for his daughter.

32. In January 2025, there is an entry relating to information to be shared with both parents.

33. In March it is noted that Mr Y sent a subject access request which was actioned.

34. Medical records for Miss C show little detail. There are no entries showing Mr Y requested any information about her care.

35. We have not seen any evidence to show the Practice denied Mr Y was access to information or treatment for his daughters.

36. From the evidence we have seen, we are satisfied the Practice had no concerns about Mr Y’s PR between September 2024 and June 2025. We have seen no indication of failings in the Practice actions.

37. We recognise this has been a stressful and difficult time for Mr Y. We do not doubt his information and thank him for bringing his complaint to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mr Y’s complaint about the Practice. We were sorry to hear his concerns about the service he received from the Practice between September 2024 and June 2025. It is clear from what he has told us, how difficult and stressful this must have been.

2. Mr Y is understandably concerned the Practice did not inform a GP or Northeast Lincolnshire Safeguarding Team of safeguarding concerns he raised with the Practice, about his children. Mr Y also told us the Practice denied him the ability to discuss his daughters’ care and treatment, saying his details were not on the system. Based on the information we have considered, it appears the Practice followed relevant guidelines. We have seen no indications that anything went wrong. We have decided to take no further action.

3. We recognise how important this complaint is to Mr Y. We would like to take this opportunity to thank him for bringing his complaint to our attention. We hope our explanations below show how we have considered this complaint and provide him with some reassurance the Practice followed relevant guidelines.