SCA practice case · Telephone consultation
“I want that doctor reported”
The candidate brief
This is what you would read in the 3-minute window before the patient connects. Read it once, note two or three hypotheses and one thing you must not miss, then stop.
Patient
Pauline Drake · 54 years · female
Setting
Telephone — patient demanding to discuss a complaint about another GP.
Past history
- Frozen shoulder (10 days ago)
Medication
- Analgesia for shoulder
Allergies
NKDA
Recent notes
Seen 10 days ago by Dr Mensah — shoulder, thorough note. Husband Colin (also our patient): inferior MI 5 days ago, stented, home.
Reason for contact
⚠ Urgent telephone: “wants to complain about Dr Mensah, will only speak to a doctor.”
Practise this case
The full case is in the Hot Seat with the Gold plan. You get a 12-minute timer, a role-player script with facts released only when asked, examiner checkpoints by the three RCGP domains, a model consultation and the guidance behind it.
What this case tests
Show the learning points (spoiler: read after you have practised)
An angry complaint consultation is three consultations wearing one voice: the procedural (give the complaints route fully, fast and undefensively — it is her right — practice or ICB, then the Ombudsman; and a complaint about Colin’s care, or any discussion of his record, needs Colin’s consent), the collegial (neither trash nor whitewash a colleague; commit to significant-event review and be honest that reflux-pattern symptoms without red flags genuinely mimic reflux), and the human — the hidden agenda. Here it is double: witnessed-arrest trauma slammed shut ("I’m not doing tears") and exported guilt ("I gave him my Gaviscon"). Meet both, then convert the energy into the living work: post-MI rehab and mood for him, acute-stress care for her, and a dated follow-up.
The guidance behind it
Similar SCA cases
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