Decision Report 201406252

Summary

Mr C complained that his former GP practice unfairly refused a repeat prescription and removed him from their practice list after he complained about the matter.

We took independent advice from a GP adviser and found evidence to show that the repeat prescription had been lost or mislaid by the practice and this had not been explained by the reception staff to the GP who had been asked to reissue it. It was only at Mr C's persistence that he managed to receive his medication a few days later after attending the practice on several occasions. We also considered that the practice had not investigated and responded appropriately to this aspect of Mr C's complaint.

We identified that the practice had not followed General Medical Services (GMS) contractual guidance, nor their own policy, when they removed Mr C from the practice list without issuing a warning. We concluded that the practice failed to address Mr C's concerns in a professional manner and that they resorted to unreasonably removing him from the practice list causing him unnecessary distress and inconvenience.

Recommendations

We recommended that the practice:

• review their process for recording missing prescriptions and ensure that information is shared with the appropriate GP who has been asked to re-issue a prescription;
• share these findings with the staff involved and remind them of the importance of providing full and accurate responses to complaints;
• apologise to Mr C for the failings identified with his prescription;
• apologise for failing to issue Mr C with a warning prior to removing him from their practice list in accordance with GMS contractual guidance; and
• ensure all relevant staff are fully aware of the GMS contractual guidance and their own policy before removing a patient from the practice list.