Summary
Mr C complained about the care and treatment provided by the medical practice to his late wife (Mrs A), who suffered from diabetes. In particular, he complained about the treatment of Mrs A's ulcers, decisions made by the practice during home visits and the practice's initial decision to refuse a home visit. Mr C also complained about the practice's response to his complaint.
During our investigation we took independent GP and nursing advice. The advice we received from the GP adviser was that the care and treatment given to Mrs A was in line with NHS guidance on the management of diabetes, and the decisions taken by the practice during home visits were reasonable. The advice we received from the nursing adviser was that the nursing care provided by the practice was reasonable.
We found no evidence that a home visit had been refused by the practice, but that the practice had been hesitant to visit given that a home visit had been carried out within 24 hours prior and the complaint remained the same. The advice we received and accepted from the GP adviser was that in these circumstances it had been reasonable to question the necessity for another home visit.
The practice had accepted that there were inaccuracies in their response to Mr C and in their clinical records. We therefore upheld this aspect of Mr C's response.
Recommendations
We recommended that the practice: formally apologise to Mr C for the upset caused to him and his family by their response.
Related reading
View Decision Report 201507458 as a PDF (12.19 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018