Addressing concerns about a patient complaint

Problem – a member received notification of a complaint made against him by a patient to the HCPC. The nature of the complaint was related to the patient requiring appointments for two different issues, but then concluded that the appointments had been scheduled based on remuneration purposes, and that no viable treatment had been given during the assessment appointments. Fortunately, the notes for both assessments were comprehensive, each containing full details of the clinical reasoning and a plan of action. They also justified that the time that had been allocated for each assessment had limited the options for beginning any treatment.

Response – our Physio First team understand how worrying it is for our members to hear from the HCPC that a complaint has been made, and so we always aim to respond immediately and offer members the opportunity discuss the issue with Paul Donnelly, our Strategic & Business lead, who is also a solicitor.

During this conversation, Paul explained the HCPC process for complaints, and reassured our member that that, in light of the HCPC process, it was highly unlikely that the complaint would be taken further. Our member was, however advised to contact the CSP to make them aware of the complaint as HCPC representation is one of the main benefits of being a member of the CSP. 

Outcome –  the one-to-one discussion with Paul reassured our member that the outcome would likely be in the direction hoped for and, a short time later, they received notification directly from the HCPC that the patient complaint would not proceed any further.

Having emailed Physio First, I got a response from Paul Donnelly the next day and found the advice and time spent invaluable in terms of having the HCPC process explained, which reassured me as to where this matter was likely to go, and Paul’s experience was spot on. I have since been exonerated of any wrongdoing and I am proud to be a Physio First member!