Patient had to wait almost 12 hours for an out–of–hours visit

What happened

Mr B called NHS 111 at 2.30pm. Shortly afterwards he received a call back from a triage doctor at an out‑of‑hours service. It classed Mr B as a routine case and told him that a GP would visit him at home within six hours.

Mr B telephoned to find out what was happening at about 9pm, 10pm and 11pm. At midnight the out‑of‑hours service called Mr B to say that a doctor was on his way. The GP arrived at about 2am.

Mr B telephoned to complain about the delay in being seen. The out‑of‑hours service explained that it had been an exceptionally busy day and apologised.

What we found

It was reasonable to class Mr B's case as routine. The attending GP carried out an appropriate examination and diagnosis. We also found that it was acceptable for the out‑of‑hours service to say that the out‑of‑hours doctor would arrive within six hours. This is in line with national guidance, and Mr B's case was not urgent. So we took no action on this part of the complaint.

The explanation for the delay in the doctor arriving was understandable. However, the out‑of‑hours service did not keep Mr B updated about what was going on. It also did not deal with the fact that Mr B had to wait a further two hours after it told him that a doctor was on the way.

In addition, the out‑of‑hours service did not tell Mr B what it was doing to improve things. We upheld this part of the complaint.

Putting it right

The out‑of‑hours service apologised to Mr B, particularly for the further two‑hour delay, and for the upset it had caused. It told Mr B what it was doing to improve things.