Patient unable to get support hosiery in the colour she was used to

What happened

Mrs J said that she was able to wear the colour of stockings she preferred for twelve years when the hospital supplied them to her, but when her GP managed her condition she only had a choice of two colours, black and beige. She was willing to wear the black stockings during winter but the beige colour did not match her skin colour and she said they prevented her from wearing a skirt.

Mrs J complained to her local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) who tried to resolve the issue, but was unable to find out why there was a restriction in colour choice. It presumed that the local hospital had a supply of stockings or a separate ordering procedure, and only standard supplies were available to a GP on a prescription, or that the Department of Health had restricted the availability. But it did not confirm any of this.

What we found

We did not uphold this complaint. With the help of NHS Prescription Services (a service supplied by the NHS Business Services Authority), we found that the hosiery supplier had restricted the colour choice available to the NHS on prescription to two colours. This was not a decision taken by the NHS. We also identified that the hospital had a separate arrangement with the company which provided it with a wider range of colours.

Putting it right

We advised the CCG that it should have done more to clarify the situation and establish the cause of the restriction. However, it was not substantially at fault and this was a minor concern.