Effective handling of complaints concerning children

Dealing with a complaint or lawsuit is an inevitable part of a medical career. It has been estimated that approximately 1% of all hospital admissions will result in care that could be regarded as negligent and that about 4% of patients are inadvertently harmed in some way by their care? A small proportion of these will result in complaints. Up until recently, there has been little training in effective complaints handling or in methods of minimizing the risk of the doctor-patient relationship breaking down. Support for medical staff has largely come from the defence organizations, with little help available internally from hospitals. In a North Thames study asking consultants and senior registrars 2 for their views on litigation and adverse events, it was found that overall approximately half of those in the surgical specialties had been sued at some point in their career, and a quarter in the medical. Out of 55 paediatricians, 40% had been sued. Clinicians reported feeling angry and distressed over the threat or actuality of being sued, and almost 15% had considered giving up medicine because of it. There has been much talk recently of considering complaints as an impetus for improvement and as an opportunity for patients to have a voice. As yet much of this is still rhetoric. Both the complainant, and the person involved in the situation being complained about often find the attitudes they meet unconstructive and demoralizing. It is not uncommon for both complainant and respondent to end up wondering why the complainant bothered complaining in the first place. In addition, the task has become increasingly