Table 5.
Less commonly reported themes
| Theme | Number of doctors/100 | Example quote |
|---|---|---|
| Negative feelings towards complainant or those managing them | 48 | |
| Disappointment | 3 | “I felt disappointed that having spent over 1 hour face to face in a PALs facilitated meeting, and that the complainant had said all questions had been answered to his satisfaction that the exact same points were raised in a complaint to the PCT some months later.” |
| Being bullied | 3 | “He then proceeded to look for errors in my work every day, double checking and questioning everything I did. He finally found some personal mail that I had delivered to my work address and used that as a basis of a complaint.” |
| Unappreciated | 2 | “I felt fed up and unappreciated. Seems anyone can complain and about anything. Never really get much thanks when things go well.” |
| Humiliated | 2 | “ I felt a bit paranoid, and humiliated.” |
| Emotional distress | 42 | |
| Exhaustion | 4 | “I became obsessional about my record keeping to the point my working days extended and I became exhausted.” |
| Depression | 3 | “I became exhausted; had a year later to take 4 months off with an agitated depression.” |
| Loneliness | 2 | “Despite support from my employer, the BMA, the MPS and others—I still felt very alone in dealing with this, and felt very unsure about the best way forward and the timescales involved.” |
| Became ill | 2 | “I had a malicious complaint from someone I now know to be a serial complainer, it was the first time I've experienced a complaint and I've had physical and mental health symptoms since it occurred.” |
| Suicidal | 1 | “I cry, can't sleep and contemplate suicide and certainly not being a doctor anymore.” |
| Negative feelings towards self | 22 | |
| Feeling responsible | 1 | “I was devastated when one of our patients collapsed with an avoidable complication and later died. It could have been prevented.” |
| Doctors suggestions to improve the complaints system | 93 | |
| Patients should lose their right of confidentiality in the event that a complaint was vexatious | 2 | “If patient charter better protected the doctor against unfounded allegations. Any patient going to the media should automatically give up their right of confidentiality for the issues they raise in the complaint.” |
| No changes needed | 3 | “I don't feel there is a fundamental problem with the complaints system.” |
BMA, British Medical Association; MPS, Medical Protection Society; PALs, Patient Advice and Liaison Service; PCT, Primary Care Trust.