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Home > Publications > Selected Cases > Selected Investigations Completed December 2002March 2003 > Case no. E.1431/01-02
Complaint against a GP in the Bromley Primary Care Trust area
Summary of Case
Between October 1999 and January 2000 Mr G had received in-patient radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment for an advanced cancer over the base of his spine and also had major heart surgery. He returned to hospital in April for surgery for his cancer. He was discharged home five months later for recuperation. Mr G’s condition deteriorated; however, he refused to return to hospital and he died at home. Mr G’s sister, Mrs W, believed that his GP, Dr L, should have carried out more thorough clinical assessments of Mr G, performed blood tests, arranged for him to be provided with IV fluids at his home, and provided more adequate pain relief and antibiotics. The Ombudsman’s professional assessors advised that once Mr G’s condition deteriorated, the correct place for him to be treated was in hospital. The Ombudsman found that Dr L’s management of Mr G was adequate as any further assessment or blood tests would simply have emphasised the need for hospitalisation. Moreover, it would have been inappropriate for Dr L to provide IV fluids at Mr G's home and the pain relief and antibiotics provided were adequate. The complaint was not upheld. However, the Ombudsman commented that the standard of Dr L’s record-keeping was found to have been poor. He apologised to Mrs W for this and agreed to discuss the standard of his record-keeping with the clinical governance team at his PCT.
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