Summary
Mr C, who was a prisoner, complained that the board unreasonably delayed in arranging for him to see an optician over a period of time while he was in prison. We considered Mr C's relevant medical records and the complaints correspondence, and obtained independent advice on his care and treatment from one of our medical advisers. The adviser said that Mr C did not need an urgent appointment, and that delay would not have caused him a permanent eyesight problem. However, as the board said that the average time to wait to see an optician is two to four weeks we were concerned that, during two periods of his time in prison, Mr C waited more than four weeks to be seen, and we upheld his complaint.
Recommendations
We recommended that the board: apologise for the delay in Mr C being seen by the optician; and review their process to ensure that when a prisoner is listed to see an optician, an appointment is scheduled and appropriate checks are carried out if the prisoner does not attend the appointment.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201301460 as a PDF (12.51 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018