Decision Report 201500502

Summary

Miss C complained about the care and treatment her baby son received from the GPs at the practice. Miss C said she attended the practice a dozen times over a three-month period as her son was continually crying and was in great distress. Miss C raised a number of issues about her son’s care. She said that the GPs at the practice unreasonably failed to listen to her concerns about her son’s health. She said that they failed to ask relevant questions which might have helped get to the bottom of her son’s problems sooner. She also said that they did not recognise when they were out of their depth and needed to refer her son to more specialist medical staff. Miss C said that eventually a referral was made to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, where severe reflux and colic was diagnosed as the cause of her son’s symptoms.

We obtained independent medical advice on the complaint from a GP adviser. The adviser said that the GPs at the practice listened to Miss C’s concerns and tried reasonable medication options. The adviser said that, when there was no evidence of consistent improvement, they arranged specialist referral to a dietician and a paediatrician (a doctor dealing with the medical care of infants, children and young people). The adviser said that the practice’s response was reasonable, referral occurred early on in the consultation history and there was no evidence of delay in referral.

The adviser found no evidence that the GPs failed to ask relevant questions which might have helped diagnose Miss C’s son’s medical problems sooner, or that the GPs treated him beyond their competencies. The adviser also indicated that the GPs acted in accordance with relevant national guidelines and Lothian NHS board’s policy.