The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) also insisted that the unnamed practice, within the NHS Ayrshire and Arran health board area, must follow guidelines in future – and ‘reflect on their failings’.
A decision report published following the SPSO investigation revealed that the patient had attended the practice with symptoms of rectal bleeding, a change in bowel habits and abdominal pain.
While the doctor made a routine referral to hospital, they failed to carry out a rectal examination.
The patient was later diagnosed with bowel cancer and complained that there had been an unreasonable delay in diagnosing and treating their cancer.
In the report, the Ombudsman said: “We took independent advice from a GP. We found that [the patient’s] referral to hospital should have been marked as urgent given their symptoms, and a rectal examination undertaken.
“We also found that information about [the patient’s] family history was not recorded correctly. Therefore, we upheld this part of [the patient’s] complaint.
“However, we noted that it was unlikely that these failings would have had any impact on the treatment options or outcome for [the patient’s].”
The SPSO added: “[The patient] also complained that the practice failed to handle their complaint reasonably. We found that the practice failed to reflect on the failings in their response to [the patient]. We upheld this part of [the patient’s] complaint.”
The Ombudsman ordered the medical practice to apologise to the patient for the failings identified in the investigation in relation to the standard of medical care and complaint handling.
They also said that clinical staff should be aware of the relevant guidelines for urgent suspicion of cancer and standard practice to ensure all patients with similar symptoms are provided with a reasonable standard of medical care.
In relation to complaints handling, they recommended relevant staff should ensure that failings are reflected on and that the investigation and response are focused on the complainant.
They also asked the practice to provide evidence that it has implemented the recommendations made.