Doctors (doctor) – how to make a complaint

If you feel uneasy about your doctor’s conduct or performance, or about the service they provide, trust your judgement. It may be a sign that they are practicing in an unsafe or inappropriate way.

Steps you can take#

Talk to someone you trust first, such as a friend, a family member or another healthcare professional like a nurse, social worker or another doctor. If, having talked it through, you are still uneasy, raise your concern with your doctor directly, or with the healthcare service they work for. Both of these are known as healthcare providers, and you can raise your concern by talking to them or by making a complaint in writing.

Doing this may clarify the situation or prevent a problem from developing, and is often the quickest and easiest way to resolve a complaint.

Clearly write down what happened, who was involved, and what sort of solution would satisfy you.

Ask for a written response#

The healthcare provider should acknowledge that they have received your complaint. It may then take a few weeks or months for them to respond in full.

If you are not satisfied#

If you do not feel comfortable approaching the provider directly, or you are not happy with their response, most health systems have an independent complaints body. These bodies typically handle complaints about:

• health service organizations such as public or private hospitals, doctor clinics or community health services
• individual health practitioners, whether registered or non-registered
• anyone who holds your health records, including schools, gyms and other non-health providers

If your concerns relate to your doctor’s professional conduct, a complaints body may refer the matter to the relevant medical regulator. A medical board or regulator sets the standards and policies for the profession, and all doctors must meet these to practice. Regulators can act to protect the public and ensure high standards of conduct are maintained, and you can usually contact them with any concern about the professional behavior, performance or health of a registered practitioner.

What is expected of doctors#

Good medical practice depends on trust, respect, openness and good communication between doctors, patients and their families. Codes of conduct for doctors generally set out that practitioners should:

• protect patients’ privacy and right to confidentiality, unless release of information is required by law or by public-interest considerations
• encourage and support patients (and, where relevant, their carer or family) in caring for themselves and managing their health
• encourage and support patients to be well informed about their health and to use this information wisely when making decisions
• recognize that there is a power imbalance in the doctor-patient relationship, and not exploit patients physically, emotionally, sexually or financially

Doctors must maintain a strict professional boundary in their dealings with all patients. A doctor has a professional responsibility not to enter into a sexual, exploitative or otherwise inappropriate relationship with a patient, former patient, or close relative of a patient, even if the patient is a consenting adult. Such a relationship may cloud the doctor’s judgement, make them less objective, and compromise the quality of care they provide.

If a patient seeks such a relationship with their doctor, the doctor must tell the patient that this cannot happen, and it may be appropriate to advise the patient to see another doctor. If a doctor abuses a patient’s trust by crossing this boundary, they are acting unprofessionally and should be reported to the regulator. If allegations are substantiated, the regulator can take disciplinary action. All allegations of sexual assault should be reported to the police.

Crossing professional boundaries#

Professional boundaries are crossed when any inappropriate sexual interaction occurs between a doctor and a patient, or an immediate family member of the patient. A wide range of behavior can be considered unprofessional sexual conduct, including:

• requesting irrelevant or unnecessary details of a patient’s sexual history, preference or performance
• making unnecessary comments about a patient’s body or clothing, or other sexually suggestive comments, innuendo or jokes
• touching any part of the patient’s body after the patient has indicated they do not want to be touched (patients may change their mind during an examination, and it should stop as soon as the patient indicates this)
• attempting to go out with, or otherwise enter into a sexual relationship with, a patient

There are also non-sexual ways that doctors can cross professional boundaries, such as establishing an inappropriate financial relationship.

How concerns are investigated#

A medical regulator investigates concerns (sometimes called notifications) about doctors on behalf of the public. It has the power to take action to protect the public and ensure high standards are maintained. The law sets out the powers available to the regulator to discipline doctors, and the powers of independent tribunals that hear allegations of the most serious unprofessional conduct.

In serious cases of professional misconduct, a tribunal has the power to cancel or suspend a doctor’s medical registration. The regulator and the tribunal may also impose conditions or restrictions on a doctor’s registration that limit how they can work. A regulator can caution a doctor, and a tribunal can impose a fine, require a doctor to undergo counseling or complete further education, or issue a reprimand.

All concerns sent to a regulator are treated seriously and are assessed and managed by staff trained to deal with them in a sensitive and confidential way. If you are concerned about a doctor’s behavior, it is usually straightforward to contact the relevant complaints body or regulator for help and more information.

Key points#

• Trust your judgement if you feel uneasy about a doctor’s conduct, performance or service.
• Raising your concern directly with the provider is often the quickest way to resolve it.
• Independent complaints bodies and medical regulators handle concerns about services, practitioners and health records.
• Doctors must maintain strict professional boundaries; breaches can lead to disciplinary action, and assault should be reported to police.

Where to get help#