GP practice ordered to apologise after receptionist hung up on patient

A GP practice has been ordered to apologise after a receptionist failed to help a patient following surgery and hung up on them.

According to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), the patient called an NHS Ayrshire and Arran GP reception to request an urgent review of a GP-prescribed medication.

In particular, they wanted advice about the safe discontinuation of a drug after surgery.

The complaint claimed that the concerns were not addressed during the call.

The report found that the receptionist did not inform the patient that they could call back after receiving discharge papers from the hospital to request a same-day triage appointment.

They also did not offer to send a message to the GP informing them of the problem, and failed to explain why a request to speak to the practice manager was refused.

The watchdog added that no consideration had been given to requesting a team leader call back.

Among other things, the watchdog stated that the medical practice should apologise for hanging up on the patient before they were given the opportunity to accept a routine appointment.

SSPO also ordered the organisation to apologise for not addressing the urgent medication concerns.

The report said the medical practice also “failed to handle the complaint reasonably”.

The ombudsman ordered the surgery to apologise for all of its failures and provide future patients with “appropriate explanations and advice” when they contact the reception team.

Craig McArthur, director of the East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said a formal apology has been made to the family of the patient.

“I am sorry that the high standards of care that we strive for in NHS Ayrshire & Arran were not met for this patient,” Mr McArthur said.

“I can advise that the GP practice has fully accepted the recommendations in the SPSO report.

“To ensure learning across the organisation, we will share the findings from the report with staff and seek assurance from our teams that the necessary actions have been completed.”