Highland GP surgery ordered to apologise to patient for failures to diagnose deep vein thrombosis, despite their having leg issues for 18 months; Scottish Public Services Ombudsman recently issued its ruling
A Highland GP surgery has been told to apologise to a patient for its repeated failure to diagnose their deep vein thrombosis despite having leg problems for 18 months.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) said the medical practice, which has not been named, missed various opportunities to diagnose the condition.
It said that although the patient, referred to only as 'C', had a more difficult case of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) to diagnose, there were signs that the practice "unreasonably missed" - especially after C attended a consultation having been on a recent flight.
In its report, the SPSO said that C felt the practice had missed various chances to diagnose them or refer them to a specialist who would have,
C also raised concerns over their general treatment after developing a lesion on their left leg.
SPSO said the practice acknowledged there was a delay in reaching a DVT diagnosis, but added that there "remained uncertainty regarding when the practice should have diagnosed a DVT or explored the possibility of this diagnosis".
Issuing their ruling, the SPSO said: "We found that this was a more difficult case of DVT to diagnose. However, there were signs that the practice unreasonably missed. C attended a consultation after they had been on a flight.
"We found that, from this point onwards, there was an unreasonable failure to fully take into account risk factors and symptoms pointing to an alternative diagnosis of DVT.
"There were also missed opportunities to carry out appropriate investigations that would have supported or ruled out such a diagnosis. We considered that there was less certainty over whether the DVT was present prior to C’s flight. We upheld this complaint.
"In respect of the more general care of C’s leg, we found that this was initially of a good standard. However, this became less reasonable as the months went on and C’s symptoms persisted.
"We found that, at a certain point, the practice were not treating C’s symptoms proactively. We also considered an apparent absence of a dermatology referral, despite C’s records indicating that this was part of the treatment plan. For these reasons, we upheld this complaint."
It has told the GP surgery to apologise to C, and also ensure that DVT "be explored as a possible diagnosis when relevant symptoms and risk factors are present, even when another diagnosis is considered more likely".
It added that DVT treatment should be provided in line with relevant guidance.
It asked the surgery to provide evidence it was implementing the recommendations.
