Complaints arising from the exercise of clinical judgement. A report by the English Regional Medical Officers

Abstract

The investigation of complaints arising from the Exercise of Clinical Judgement has been subject to new procedures since September 1981. Early in 1984 the Regional Medical Officers set in hand a review of their experience in operating the procedures. The review is presented in two parts: The first part records the number of complaints received in relation to the total number of patients treated, followed by a brief description of the means employed to pursue these complaints with particular attention to the revised three stage procedure, introduced in September 1981. The second part reviews certain aspects of the 36 complaints referred to Regional Medical Officers between 1 September 1981 and 31 December 1983 under the new procedure. It demonstrates the efforts made by all those involved to ensure the success of the system. It also describes some of the difficulties encountered in operating the system and makes suggestions for its future management.