GP practice wrongly kept patient's name on its mental health register

What happened

Mr A suffered from depression. His illness did not mean that he had to be included on the registers set up in 2004 for people with severe mental illness. The Practice added him to its register in 2004 because it said the medication it had prescribed for Mr A meant he should be included.

In 2006 Mr A questioned why he was on the Practice's register and asked to be removed. A GP at the Practice acknowledged that he should not have been on it and said it had removed him, with the removal backdated to 2004. The GP confirmed Mr A had never had severe mental health problems. However, the Practice did not remove him from the register; it simply moved his details to a different register, which it described as a 'virtual' register.

The Practice failed to remove Mr G as it had promised and in its communications with him, it did not explain matters to him in an open way. In some of its record keeping, the Practice did not treat Mr A with dignity.

Mr A is no longer a patient at the Practice.

What we found

The Practice did not follow the relevant guidance for inclusion on such registers or communicate fairly with Mr A. It did not follow the Ombudsman's Principles in its complaint handling. These failings led to confusion, frustration and distress to Mr A.

Putting it right

The Practice apologised to Mr A for the distress caused. It said it would be mindful of statutory requirements and would discuss the complaint in specific meetings.