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"GP practice refused to treat emergency"

About: General Practices in Grampian

(as a service user),

My husband requested urgent repeat prescription from my Medical Centre for severe pain on my behalf for diagnosed condition.   I had moved the day before 9 miles to nearby town on temporary basis. GP practice phoned me next morning refusing to give me prescription saying I had to register with different practice. The new practice wasn't answering the phone and had a message on a loop. My husband called my health centre and they again refused and suggested I call 111.   111 rightly said emergencies should be dealt with by GP. I called back this time deeply distressed as an emergency and they refused to treat me again despite knowing the situation. Their only suggestion was asking me to wait while they spoke to the practice manager, not a clinical person.   It was a housing officer who understood my pain levels who arranged for a GP from the other  practice to come and see me. A caring practice, a practice not failing to meet their duty of care to a patient in an emergency,   would have simply arranged an immediate prescription rather than insisting no help would be given due to administrative reasons.     Refusing to treat a patient in such severe pain raises serious questions.    

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Responses

Response from Kirsten Dickson, Quality Improvement and Assurance Facilitator, Quality Improvement and Assurance Team, NHS Grampian 4 years ago
Kirsten Dickson
Quality Improvement and Assurance Facilitator, Quality Improvement and Assurance Team,
NHS Grampian
Submitted on 20/04/2020 at 11:34
Published on Care Opinion at 11:34


picture of Kirsten Dickson

Dear EmeraldCoast,

Thank you for getting in touch and please accept my apologies for taking a while to get back to you.

I can only imagine how frustrating not getting the support you needed, when you needed it, must have been for you - and your husband also.

I, like you, would have thought that until you had registered with another practice your current practice should still provide care in an emergency and I’m disappointed to hear this didn’t seem to happen. This Citizens Advice page gives more information – though you may have already read it.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/health/nhs-healthcare-s/nhs-patients-rights-s/

Most GP Practices in Grampian are run independently and if you feel comfortable, it would be best to get in touch with the practice manager about your concerns either in writing or by telephone as they don’t currently directly access the Care Opinion website. However, I would be happy to share your story with them if you’d like to let me know which practice you visited? You can do so by commenting on this thread or by email: kirsten.dickson@nhs.net.

Take care,

Kirsten

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