Doctor ordered to apologise to patient

A doctor was today criticised by the Health Service Ombudsman for failing to compensate a patient who claimed she was "bullied" into leaving the practice.

It is only the second time the Ombudsman has publicly named a doctor following an investigation, saying Dr William Hampson failed to acknowledge his "mishandling" of the situation and compensate his patient for the "distress and inconvenience he caused her."

The Ombudsman has now reported Dr Hampson to the General Medical Council.

The move is designed to encourage the doctor to "provide the long overdue remedy" to the patient, identified only as "Mrs S".

Mrs S admits that she "stormed out" of the Northway Medical Centre in Alderwood Precinct, The Northway, Sedgley, angry and upset, after she called there with her unconscious daughter in August 2010.

She was told by the receptionist that, as it was after 6pm, no appointments were available, although the surgery was not due to close until 6.30pm, and she was advised to drive her daughter to the walk-in centre or wait for an out-of-hours GP.

The practice receptionist claimed Mrs S swore as she left, although the patient denies this.

Mrs S then received a letter from Dr Hampson saying she needed to apologise within 14 days or he would be unable to offer her medical care in future.

Taking that to be an ultimatum, Mrs S, who had been with the practice for 24 years, registered herself with another GP.

Ombudsman Ann Abraham upheld Mrs S's complaint and told Dr Hampson to acknowledge his "mishandling", apologise and pay £500 compensation - but he has so far not done so.

She also says the doctor's unwillingness to comply with her recommendations constitute a "threat to the health and safety of patients" and has reported the matter to the General Medical Council.

A statement by the practice said: "We apologise for any upset caused to Mrs S and her family. As the report states, it was never our intention to start a formal removal request procedure and we apologise if the language used was misunderstood."

Dr Hampson was not available for comment.