16.10.13
Patients ‘don’t know how to complain’ – GMC
It is too difficult for patients to raise concerns about poor medical care, the GMC has found. The third State of Medical Education and Practice report showed that doctors are reporting more concerns about their colleagues than in previous year – but this is due to a “welcome change of culture” rather than deteriorating care.
Last year 8,109 complaints were made against doctors, up 24% since 2011. 62% of these complaints came from the public, but the process of raising concerns needs to be made easier, the GMC said.
Patients aged between 46 and 60 are the most likely to complain, and women more than men. GPs are the most likely to receive complaints, with male GPs receiving twice as many complaints as women.
The report also showed that fewer overseas doctors are registering in the UK, and that it is most difficult to attract doctors to the specialisms of psychiatry, general practice and emergency medicine.
Professor Sir Peter Rubin, chair of the GMC, said: “The GMC has an important role to play in protecting patients and ensuring that doctors practise to the highest possible standard. Complaints from members of the public, doctors and other professionals are invaluable in helping us to do this. Complaints also give the health service a chance to reflect and improve the care that patients receive.
“However what our report shows is that some patients don’t know where to go to raise a concern about their treatment and more needs to be done to help them raise issues. Making a complaint about a doctor can be stressful and it is important that concerns are raised with the right organisation so patients are not passed from pillar to post.
“The challenge for the GMC and the wider health service is to make sure that patients can reach the organisation best able to deal with their concerns as soon as possible. This year, we launched our first ever guide for patients to let them know what to expect from their doctor and where to go for advice but our report shows that there is still more we and others can do to create a quick and simple complaints process that works in the best interests of patients.”
Dean Royles, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “The GMC’s findings should help reassure the public that concerns about care are being identified earlier, reported more often, and resolved more swiftly. There is every sign that doctors are increasingly confident to highlight concerns about the practice and behaviour of colleagues and that these will be addressed without fear of recrimination. This is the culture of transparency that we are striving for in all parts of the NHS, and we won't allow our focus on it to slip.
“The best way the medical workforce can continue delivering safe, high quality NHS care is if we respond effectively and rapidly to increasing pressures on services by changing the way the NHS works.
“The GMC’s focus is squarely on the need for better engagement between doctors and their organisations, including better planning of doctors’ rotas to match the needs of patients. It also emphasises the importance of supervising and supporting less experienced doctors in training. We need that to be effective for trainee doctors, consultants and patients seven days a week.
“There are major opportunities right now for the medical community to lead that debate. GPs have taken over the reins of procurement and hospital doctors are about to enter their first formal renegotiation of contracts in a decade, with patients needing safe diagnosis, treatment and care every day of the week.”
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