Background <p>Having a family doctor is beneficial for patient care. However, it is not uncommon for a treatment relationship to be terminated. Doctors are suggested to implement proper transition procedures should this occur. Nevertheless, the literature shows that patients suffer harm even when a doctor has organized a care transition. Few studies have suggested appropriate procedures for how doctors should transition care upon the ending of the doctor–patient relationship, and the impact on patients following treatment relationship termination has been rarely documented. This study fills the literature gap by investigating a group of chronically ill patients in Hong Kong on how they experienced the termination of a long-term treatment relationship by their family doctors.</p> Methods <p>This study adopts an explanatory model and critical medical anthropology as the theoretical framework and employs a qualitative descriptive approach with individual semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted from June to September 2025 to investigate the experiences of 35 chronically ill patients following the termination of the treatment relationship initiated by their familiar doctors. The coding and analysis of the data were based on a thematic analysis.</p> Results <p>The experiences of the participants were negative and unpleasant when their treatment relationship was terminated by their doctors. Five themes were derived from the data as follows: feeling uncertain about future care, feeling guilty for the new doctor, feeling abandoned, having no motivation to find a new long-term doctor, and feeling incomplete without a formal goodbye. The international guidelines suggest that doctors mostly emphasize legal and ethical procedures to reduce their legal liability when they terminate a treatment relationship, but the participants expected a humanistic and emotional approach when the treatment relationship was terminated.</p> Conclusion <p>Micro experiences of the participants could be due to the macro social structure of Hong Kong society. Merely organizing a care transition, which is the current medical guideline and practice when a treatment relationship has to be terminated, may not be enough for patients in this Chinese context. Care transition plans are suggested to emphasize emotional adaptation preparation, as some participants’ accounts suggest the importance of symbolic closure resembling ritual transition.</p>