Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

News

“Disruptive” doctors are often found to be perfectionists, agency reports

BMJ 2011; 342 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d876 (Published 08 February 2011) Cite this as: BMJ 2011;342:d876

Rapid Response:

It is Nice to See This is Being Adressed

I think that the end product of a doctor is whether he or she has
delivered good care but it good to see that an other end point being
considered is that his or her team has delivered good care. It is easy to
hide behind one's individual competence. Indeed if the outcome of
individual consultations is the only judge of a doctor then clever
individuals will make sure that this work is OK to absolve themselves from
addressing other adverse issues.
We are all part of systems and it is interesting to see some systems nip
any dusruptive behjaviour in the bud (to the great benefit of the
"disruptee") while others just have no mechanisms to do this. Even within
the same system and organisation, some component teams have excellent
governance while others have none. In the latter case, everyone is a
victim.
I think some disruptive individuals seem unwilling to start down the road
of learning and self improvement, which is tragic for them.
This is an important issue in these times of change. Being unable to
manage your own behaviour makes it unlikely that you will be able to
rationally manage change. If that individual is in a key position then
important new systems and governance just do not happen.

Competing interests: No competing interests

14 February 2011
Graeme Mackenzie
GP
NHS Cumbria