Mrs M got into a dispute with her GP Practice when they could not find some of her medical records which had been transferred to them by another practice a year earlier. Mrs M waited at the Practice for about an hour while staff rang round trying to find her records. In fact, the Practice already had the records in question, but they had not recorded receipt on their computer system and had then misfiled them. Mrs M was very worried about the apparent loss of her records and felt that Practice staff were not taking her concerns about that seriously. She disliked the receptionist’s manner towards her and left the reception saying that she would be making a complaint.

On receipt of Mrs M’s complaint the Practice carried out a thorough search for the missing records and eventually found them. They then set up a meeting with Mrs M to go through her records and to discuss her complaint. Mrs M telephoned to cancel the meeting as it was extremely short notice and she felt things were being rushed. The Practice later noted that Mrs M’s manner during the call was unpleasant. The next day Mrs M received a letter from the Practice saying that staff had been trying to resolve her concerns about her records, but were upset by what they described as her intimidating attitude and manner. The Practice said Mrs M’s ‘persistent belligerence’ gave them no option but to ask her to find another GP, as her relationship with the Practice had obviously broken down.

Mrs M disputed that she had been belligerent, and felt the Practice were not taking her concerns seriously. The letter from the Practice left Mrs M feeling ‘upset and again stressed further’. She was ‘totally aghast’ and ‘dismayed’ at the way the Practice had treated her and ‘saddened that actions had been escalated to this stage’. She complained to the Ombudsman, seeking an apology from the Practice.

We resolved Mrs M’s complaint quickly, without the need for a formal investigation. After we spoke to the Practice, they apologised to Mrs M for removing her from their list without warning. They also explained that they had changed their procedures and would follow the rules about removing patients in future. We gave Mrs M further assurance by sending her the Practice’s new procedures for recording receipt  of incoming medical records.