Summary
Mrs C complained about one of her mother (Mrs A)'s GPs. Mrs C said the GP should have sent Mrs A to hospital after seeing her at a home visit. Several days later another GP admitted Mrs A to hospital, where she died.
We looked at Mrs A's medical notes and the GP's file on Mrs C's complaint. We also took independent advice from one of our GP advisers. We found that the GP provided appropriate treatment to Mrs A at the home visit, and there were no indications at the visit that Mrs A should have been admitted to hospital as an emergency. We also found that, in the circumstances, Mrs A's deterioration several days later could not have been foreseen at the home visit.
We concluded that the care provided to Mrs A at the home visit was reasonable in the circumstances, and that the GP did not unreasonably fail to send Mrs A to hospital on that day. We did not uphold Mrs C's complaint.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201407551 as a PDF (10.99 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018