GP practice successfully defends discrimination claim brought by patient who abused staff

A GP practice in England that removed an abusive patient from its list has successfully defended a court claim brought under the Equality Act 2010 alleging that the action unlawfully discriminated against him on the grounds of his underlying condition.

In 2018 the patient was given a prescription for an increased dose of a drug by a GP registrar at the practice, which has asked not to be identified. Later, running low on the drug, the patient asked for a repeat prescription. At the pharmacy he queried whether the dose was correct and was advised to go back to the GP. Reception staff told him there would be a 48 hour wait to collect …