NHS: Negligence
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to issue guidance on clinical liability for triage decisions where a Single Point of Access triage system determines that a referral judged clinically appropriate by a GP should be (a) redirected and (b) declined.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
General practices (GPs) and other primary care referrers remain professionally accountable for making appropriate clinical decisions, including referring patients to specialist care when this is in the patient’s best interests.
While advice is being sought or acted on in primary care, the GP remains responsible for the patient’s overall clinical care and risk. Under this model, requests for specialist advice and referrals are clinically reviewed by a named consultant, with the aim of ensuring patients are directed to the most suitable pathway. The specialist is responsible for the quality and appropriateness of the advice they give, not for ongoing management or follow‑up unless they formally assume responsibility for the patient’s care. Specialists also have clinical responsibility from the point at which a specialist advice request is converted into a referral or if the specialist initiates investigations or treatment directly.
Where a local model is already established, or has been agreed between primary and secondary care, that provides timely specialist clinical assessment with clear accountability, this may continue with oversight from a named consultant.
NHS England continues to support clinicians through guidance on clinical accountability, including where a patient’s referral is redirected or declined. This is available at the following link:
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