Decision Report 201402072

Summary

Mr C complained about the pain relief he was being prescribed by the prison health centre as he did not find it effective. He also complained about the way the board handled complaints and feedback he had submitted.

The board considered that Mr C was being prescribed appropriate medication to manage his pain. After taking independent advice from one of our GP advisers, we upheld this part of Mr C's complaint. The adviser did not consider that a thorough enough assessment of Mr C's pain had been recorded to determine if the pain relief he was prescribed was appropriate. In looking at the board's handling of Mr C's complaints, the evidence available confirmed that they did not respond to feedback that he had submitted in line with the relevant process and had failed to identify this during their investigation of his subsequent complaint. We also upheld this part of Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the board:

• ensure that heath centre staff consider and reflect on how they assess a patient's pain;
• ensure that health centre staff consider the use of alternative treatments like local anaesthetic patches for the treatment of isolated areas of pain such as Mr C's;
• ensure that staff update their learning by reading the revised Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network guideline 136;
• apologise to Mr C for failing to respond in line with the relevant process; and
• review their complaints handling procedure alongside the prisoner healthcare feedback, concerns and complaints form to ensure they provide a consistent approach.