Negligent Locum?

zaksmum

My friend has COPD and was very ill with flu recently. She's 53, divorced and lives alone, working full time to pay her mortgage and bills.

She was so ill she took to her bed which is most unlike her. After three days she rang her GP and got the on call locum. She told him how awful she felt and mentioned her COPD (struggling for breath, couldn't stand up without falling) and told him she lived alone. He said he was too busy to come out and told her to go to hospital if she felt that bad. She told him she could not physically get out of the house or even downstairs. He said just take paracetamol then.

After another week she managed to stagger to her GPs surgery where the GP was horrified at the state she was in. He said he'd never seen such low oxygen levels as hers. He diagnosed a lung infection, prescribed antibiotics and was furious with the on call locum, ringing him there and then to complain.

My friend had a letter today from the locum, apologising for the misunderstanding and saying the GP is unhappy with him.

She still hasn't gone back to work and doesn't get paid while sick, so is frantic about how to pay her bills next month. She feels the locum was negligent in failing to treat her with antibiotics and is wondering if she can make a claim for medical negligence.

Anyone know if she may be able to?

alwaysonthego_2

Why can't she claim SSP?

JodyBPM

Surely she should have called an ambulance if she couldn't get out of the house and was so sick that she felt she needed urgent medical attention? Surely even if the locum had come and diagnosed her, he would have just left her a prescription, so she would still have had to have got out/got some to get it for her? Whoever would have done that for her could have taken her to the hospital, surely?

Does sound like the locum should have seen her, but we have take some responsibility for ourselves, don't we?

Barneysmom

If the locum had bothered to visit the lady's condition might not have worsened as it did.


He acted irresponsibly, she has COPD and could have died on her own.


I think the locum knows that this is very serious that's why he wrote to apologise instead of just phoning up.

**curlywurly**

I agree with Barney. The least your friend should do is make a formal complaint. The locum told her to take paracetamol which was clearly inappropriate. We do have to take responsibility for ourselves, but when we are ill we rely on doctors (who, let's face it are paid a lot of money).

A similar thing happened to my friend's sister, age 30. She had pneumonia. Told to take paracetamol by locum. She died two days later. Should she have taken responsibility for herself and her unborn child, or was she entitled to rely on the advice of a professional who is paid handsomely to help her?

JodyBPM

Barneysmom wrote: »

If the locum had bothered to visit the lady's condition might not have worsened as it did.


He acted irresponsibly, she has COPD and could have died on her own.


I think the locum knows that this is very serious that's why he wrote to apologise instead of just phoning up.

If he didn't have time to see her (quite possibly because of other equally sick people to see) he didn't have time to see her.

He told her to go to the hospital is she felt that bad, she chose not to follow his advice and call an ambulance.

I think there is cause here for a complaint, because the customer service from the locum seems lacking, but not cause for a medical negligence claim - he gave her the right advice - go to the hospital. She chose not to - her fault, not his!

donteatthat

This is not medical negligence, maybe a GP lacking in communication skills but as he has written to apologise I'm sure there isn't any further mileage in this for your friend.

DVardysShadow

donteatthat wrote: »

This is not medical negligence, maybe a GP lacking in communication skills but as he has written to apologise I'm sure there isn't any further mileage in this for your friend.

I would take exactly the opposite view. Generally, apologies are 10 for a penny. But in the case of the police, solicitors and doctors, you never see an apology unless there is something glaringly wrong.

In this case, I would say the locum knows he has fouled up badly and has written to apologise in the hope that the matter will go away. I doubt that he would write if he was not afraid of a complaint going forward.

meritaten

I tend to agree with others that this is cause for complaint - which she has done and recieved an apology. she could also complain higher but it wont get her any compensation! she could consult a medical claims solicitor - but as the locum advised her to call an ambulance I dont really think she would have a claim. she MAY as the locum has admitted his mistake in writing. she may well be best advised to consult a specialist solicitor as I may be dead wrong.

SkintGypsy

donteatthat wrote: »

This is not medical negligence, maybe a GP lacking in communication skills but as he has written to apologise I'm sure there isn't any further mileage in this for your friend.

I would imagine that would depend on whether an alternative action taken by the locum would have altered the prognosis of the OP's friend, and therefore the financial impact upon her.

zaksmum

Thanks all. I agree my friend could have called an ambulance but the locum was so dismissive that she thought maybe she was over reacting and would feel better in the morning. She's not, after all, medically qualified.

She can claim SSP, by the way, but it still leaves her far short of her usual wage as she's a supervisor and has a lot of responsibility at work. She budgets carefully but has a mortgage to pay on her own which isn't easy.

Her younger sister died recently due to the same condition she has. I've never known her so ill, so yes, she could have died. She's still not well and feels that antibiotics at an earlier stage would have made the difference.