Medical Tribunals for Mental Health Patients soley under the care of their GP · petition

What the petition asks

So many people, who already experience of mental distress, are complaining of being not listened to by their GPs. GPs are NOT specialists in mental health and often fail to understand or care about the more outwardly subtle nature of mental health conditions which can, at the same time, be severe.

The nature of a GP-patient relationship is one where the GP has absolute power and the patient has none. This may make some sense in the case of an infected absess, but very often can cause even more mental distress to a patient who suffers from a psychiatric condition. I propose that, if there is a disagreement between a GP and a mental health patient who has no other care, then the issue should be taken to a tribunal made up at least in part by mental health professionals.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.

We understand that you are concerned about patient rights to challenge decisions by their GPs in certain circumstances, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. It's not clear what you mean by someone being "soley under the care of their GP", or what you want the role of the tribunals you propose to be.

NHS patients can already complain about any aspect of NHS care, treatment or service. You can find out more about this here: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/how-to-complain-to-the-nhs/

If what you want is for patients to be given a legal right to appeal decisions made by their GP, and for these to be considered by an independent tribunal, we should be able to accept a petition requesting this.

Timeline

28 Jul 2021	Petition opened for signatures
2 Aug 2021	Rejected by the Petitions Committee