Delay in prescribing medication caused distress

What happened

Mr Q had been receiving epilepsy medication as well as a particular painkiller. When he went to prison, he did not have these medications with him and the healthcare team at the prison, provided by Care UK, did not have details of his medical conditions. It took several days for this to be verified with Mr Q's community GP. When details of Mr Q's conditions were received, he was prescribed epilepsy medication.

The prison GP decided that the painkiller he was receiving was not the best one for Mr Q's condition so he prescribed a different painkiller instead.

Just over a week after Mr Q received his epilepsy medication, he had two epileptic seizures. Mr Q said that as a result of these seizures he injured himself.

What we found

The prison healthcare team should have made sure that it obtained details of Mr Q's epilepsy medication more quickly, or should have given Mr Q a temporary supply of this medication while it was waiting for the details of his medical conditions. This medication is very important for epilepsy sufferers and without it Mr Q was at risk of suffering seizures. This clearly caused Mr Q anxiety because he was worried about having a seizure.

However, the seizures that Mr Q suffered were more than a week after the medication was prescribed, so we did not find that the delay in the medication being prescribed had caused the seizures.

We said that the side effects of the painkiller he had been receiving could have worsened Mr Q's conditions so the healthcare team was correct to say that this was not the best painkiller for Mr Q. It was appropriate that it prescribed a different painkiller.

Putting it right

Care UK agreed to take action to show what steps it will take to make sure that the delays in providing Mr Q's medication are not repeated, and have apologised to Mr Q.