Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

General Practice

General practitioners' experiences of patients' complaints: qualitative study

BMJ 1999; 318 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.318.7198.1596 (Published 12 June 1999) Cite this as: BMJ 1999;318:1596

Rapid Response:

general practitioners experience of patients' complaints

Editor

This valuable article may point the way to methods of support for
practitioners who are going through the complaints process. Reading the
comments and considering that these practitioners were working with other
patients during this process shows that on a purely practical level it is
hard to believe that they could work at their optimum performance. For
hospital staff recieving complaints from staff members is an increasingly
common event. Having been the subject of a complaint recently I recognise
so many of the emotions described, even when intellectually one can see
that the formal outcome will not be adverse. As doctors we
are people too, and taking these things personally is inevitable- whether
the complaint is justified or not. More studies to explore ways of
reducing the stress for all those on the recieving end of a complaint
could be valuable.

Anonymous

Competing interests: No competing interests

23 June 1999
Anonymous