Complaints and Investigations
Most health professionals will receive a complaint or be involved in an investigation at some point in their career. When this happens to you it may leave you feeling confused or even ashamed – this is perfectly normal. We hope the guides and resources in this section will help you understand the process and navigate your way through.
So….You have received a complaint or been told you are facing an investigation. This may be an internal investigation by the organisation in which you work or you may have been notified by your regulatory body (GMC/GDC). For many health professionals, the prospect of facing a complaint or professional dispute causes them significant stress. This can manifest itself in how they perform in clinical practice and/or in their personal life and may lead to physical and psychological symptoms.
This set of guides and resources has been developed in collaboration with a group of NHS Practitioner Health patients, all of whom have been through an incident or complaint. For some this has led to suspension or even erasure, but their goal here is to share their experience and expertise and demonstrate that there is a pathway through and with the right help and guidance you will stay on track. This guide was written with doctors and dentists in mind but many of the principles may apply across a broader range of healthcare resources.
"I've had good seasons and some deeply painful ones. I've made some spectacularly good choices and some outrageously bad mistakes. I'm very human -a work in progress".
Robin Sharma, The Greatness Guide
Facing a Complaint
Patients are encouraged to feedback and complain about the service they get if it did not meet their expectations. For many health professionals, this can seem to be personal, an attack on their core sense of self and on their vocational values.
A doctor’s response to a complaint is often similar to the stages of bereavement or to receiving a diagnosis of a terminal disease. Others report, that the complaint is felt with such force that they literally feel a heavy weight on their chest wall.
However complaints are common. Most complaints are handled informally and even those which are not generally have good outcomes. Whilst complaints hurt, they do get resolved (even if the resolution is not entirely to your satisfaction).
What should you do when the complaint lands on your desk?
- First and foremost, do nothing. Do not respond, do not fire off an email or write a letter to the patient, even if pressurised by your employer/trainer or colleague.
- Do not rant and rave (not publicly anyway).
- If you can, take the rest of the day off. If not, organise to meet someone you trust, soon. There are deadlines to meet, processes to follow but they can wait till tomorrow or next week. Nothing needs to be done on the day of the complaint, and everything can wait until the first waves of shock have passed.
- Following on from this, speak to someone. A complaint (especially if potentially serious) will leave you shocked. Try not to be alone. A problem shared really is a problem halved, and at the very least will help add balance to the complaint as well as practical help in how do deal with it. Talking allows for perspective.
- At the earliest opportunity, contact your Medical Defence Organisation (even if the complaint is trivial), talk to colleagues, family, practice manager, support group, the NHS Practitioner Health service, BMA Doctors Support Service and/or local medical committee representative (if you are a GP) and your bank for financial advice. Do not suffer in silence.
- Finally, try not to take the complaint personally. A complaint does not mean you are a bad doctor. It does not negate all the good work you have done in your life. It does not make you a bad person. Most doctors at some point, in their careers, had at least one complaint and some have had many more. This is more about the system we are working in, rather than any personal failing on the individual.
The Practitioner Health Service feels that there needs to be a New Code of Practice for Complaints for NHS staff in order to address these issues and to try and minimise the harm caused by an already stressful process. It would also ensure that there is a timely and fair response for all parties, and that there is a balance between the rights of patients and those of doctors.
Second Victim Support
Second Victim Support recognises the impact that involvement in a patient safety incident or complaint. A healthcare professional who experiences significant personal or professional impact as a result of a patient safety incident or complaint can have. This web-based resource helps those (and their peers/managers) who have experience of being involved in such incidents identify the types of support they may need and sets out to signpost them towards that help.