The GP Practice failed to provide continuity of care and treatment to a patient who had breathlessness. She was later diagnosed with cancer.
What happened
Mrs A went to see her GP about various issues, including breathlessness. After a physical examination, the GP could not find the cause of her breathlessness but ordered blood tests. The GP left the Practice a few days after the consultation with Mrs A, without arranging any follow up to review the results. Although the Practice transferred Mrs A's care to another GP, there was a delay in reviewing her blood test results. The blood test results came back normal but it was over a month later, when Mrs A visited the Practice with similar symptoms, that it referred her for a chest X-ray at the local hospital. Following this, doctors there diagnosed Mrs A with cancer.
Mrs A complained that the Practice took too long to refer her for an X-ray to investigate her breathlessness. She said that there was a lack of continuity when her GP left the Practice. Mrs A said that if the Practice had referred her to hospital sooner, she could have received treatment for her cancer to stop it from spreading.
What we found
We partly upheld Mrs A's complaint. We found that the Practice referred Mrs A for a chest X-ray in line with the applicable standards. It was highly unlikely that further investigations taken before her second visit to the GP would have made any difference to her prognosis. However, the failure by the first GP to put a plan in place to review the results of the blood tests with Mrs A and for the Practice to implement that plan would have worried Mrs A. Once she did the tests, she was in the dark about what happened next. The GP should have explained to Mrs A the need to follow up the consultation, even if the tests came back normal, as she was still suffering with breathlessness.
The GP should have organised a follow‑up consultation with the person taking over from her to review the blood test results, even if they came back normal.
Putting it right
The Practice apologised to Mrs A for the distress she experienced at not knowing what was happening with her test results and for the lack of continuity in her care.
The Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court
Buckinghamshire
Apology