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Case ref:201602984
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Date:February 2017
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Body:Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board - Acute Services Division
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Sector:Health
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Outcome:Not upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:appointments / admissions (delay / cancellation / waiting lists)
Summary
Miss C complained to us about the failure of the board's radiology department to manage their waiting list in a reasonable manner. She had phoned to cancel an appointment at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for a procedure and was told that as a result she would be placed at the bottom of the waiting list.
Miss C complained to the board that this was not in line with national guidance on waiting times, which stated that the patient should only be placed at the bottom of the waiting list if a reasonable offer (an offer of two or more appointment dates) was declined. In Miss C's case, the board had placed Miss C at the bottom of the waiting list after only one offer and she felt that the board were treating her unfairly.
We found that in terms of national guidance, this was a reasonable approach as long as staff were acting in the spirit of the guidance and provided reasonable explanation for not following part of the guidance.
We found that the board were acting in the spirit of the guidance and that the reason for not making a reasonable offer was reasonable in view of the short timescales for carrying out the procedure. We therefore did not uphold Miss C's complaint.