Complaints procedures faced by doctors risk harming patients, study suggests

Imperial College. UK: Doctors who go through complaints procedures experience high rates of serious depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, according to a new study. Four out of five doctors also reported changing the way they treat their patients as a result of either complaints against themselves, or observing a colleague go through a complaints process.

The authors of the research say that by causing psychological ill health and encouraging defensive practice, the processes designed to hold doctors to account are having negative consequences for patients.
The findings come from a survey of 7,926 doctors published in BMJ Open.
Professor Tom Bourne, lead author of the study from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, said: “Of course it’s essential that when things go wrong, the reasons are properly investigated. But this study suggests that the regulatory system we have in the UK has unintended consequences that are not just seriously damaging for doctors, but are also likely to lead to bad outcomes for patients. We think this needs to be looked at carefully by policy makers.”
The General Medical Council regulates doctors in the UK and can stop or limit their rights to practise. In 2013 there were more than 8,500 complaints about doctors to the GMC, of which just over 3,000 went on to be investigated. About 80 doctors a year are suspended or erased from the medical register. Apart from those referred to the GMC, many other complaints are investigated through hospitals’ internal enquiries.
The study found that doctors who had recently been the subject of a complaint were twice as likely as other doctors to report moderate or severe anxiety, and twice as likely to have thoughts of self-harm. Those referred to the GMC had especially high rates of psychological illness, with 26 per cent reporting moderate to severe depression and 22 per cent moderate to severe anxiety.