So far your letter seems fairly clear. The family have a legitimate complaint. There is good evidence and National standards to indicate that Mr Bloggs should have been admitted to your stroke unit. The audit data indicate that your hospital’s admission rate falls short of the standard but you have a local action plan to rectify this.
However addressing the family’s concern about the amount of physiotherapy Mr Bloggs received is more complex……..
What are you going to do now?
1. Ignore this question when replying to the letter. Ensuring patients are admitted to the stroke unit is more important? – No, this is the wrong thing to do.
- Mr Bloggs’ family have asked the question about the amount of physiotherapy he should have received. It is your responsibility to provide an appropriate reply, informed by best evidence.
- You will need to seek appropriate information to support your reply.
2. Reply and say that Mr Bloggs received the right amount of therapy to meet his individual needs? – No, this is the wrong thing to do.
- This is a bold statement.
- Are you absolutely sure?
- What evidence have you got to support this statement?
3. Reply and refer to the relevant section of the national guidelines? – Yes! This is the place you should start.
Page last reviewed: 29 Apr 2020
