A patient complains and leaves the practice

A patient of the practice made a complaint regarding aspects of the treatment they had received. The complaint was resolved; however the patient advised the practice they would not be returning for any further treatment.

A short time after, the daughter of this former patient attended an appointment, accompanied by the former patient; only to be advised the appointment had been cancelled as they had assumed the whole family would not be returning to the practice and the child was declined a further appointment.

Clearly the assumption made by the practice was incorrect and as a result of the cancelled appointment, the mother made a further complaint.

Learning points

• It would be difficult from a contractual and ethical perspective to justify the failure to treat a child because of a breakdown in the professional relationship with one of their parents.
• It is important to ensure that, usually, only the individual with whom the relationship has broken down has your care withdrawn. Other family members should not be disadvantaged in their choice of clinician.
• In such circumstances, if there is any doubt as to whether the children will be returning to the practice, it seems reasonable to ask the parent if they would feel comfortable with their children attending for future appointments with the clinician who was the subject of the original complaint, and if not, it might be helpful to offer them the opportunity to see an alternative clinician.