PRACTICAL PROBLEMS


SESSIONAL GP | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 2 | 2011 | UNITED KINGDOM www.mps.org.uk


12


Obstacles to openness


Sometimes, being open with patients when things go wrong is not as easy as you may think, particularly if you are a sessional, says Sarah Whitehouse


has gone wrong is essential to maintain a patient’s trust. Encouragingly, in a recent survey 92% of MPS members said that they felt they are open and honest with patients.1 Yet poor communication


F


and staff attitudes remain the top reasons for complaints in the NHS, and seven out of ten claims involve poor communication.2


Dr


Stephanie Bown, director of policy and communications at MPS, says: “This is a strong indicator that what patients want when things go wrong is the truth, an open and honest explanation of what happened and why, and an apology where this is due.”


What complaint? As a sessional GP, however, this might prove to be particularly challenging. One of the biggest hurdles for sessional GPs is actually being told when a complaint has been made. Sessional GPs often have difficulties in complying with the provisions of the NHS Complaints Procedures because of the differences in their contractual and working arrangements,


ollowing an adverse event, being open and admitting something


eg, they are unlikely to have had any input into the drafting of the practice complaints procedure. Sessional GPs might


not be in the loop when it comes to GP partner meetings, where complaints are often discussed, or in the implementation of the practice’s complaints procedure. If you are a locum, you might not be working at the same practice when the complaint comes to light, so you might not be told how the complaint is progressing. Dr David Stewart, senior medicolegal adviser at MPS, says: “Practices should make every effort to contact any locum involved in a complaint and ask for their input. It is not enough to just go on the


Figure 1


If something went wrong when you were receiving


medical treatment or medication, how important, or otherwise, would it be to you that each of the following took place?


2.76


patient’s notes. The doctor involved in the complaint should actively be involved in trying to resolve it.” The Department of Health’s Listening, Responding, Improving: A Guide to Better Customer Care states that the complaints manager (usually the practice manager) should have an open dialogue with both parties involved in the complaint: “Before the report is finalised everyone involved should be given the chance to give their views on what has been said.”3


The locum experience One locum GP commented: “The main barrier I’ve come across is that practices often don’t tell the locum that they’ve had a complaint. It


is so much easier to say to the patient: ‘Oh sorry, it was the locum, but don’t worry, we’ll never book them again.’ The patient is delighted – they won’t have to see the doctor again and they feel their opinion is valued.” He added: “On the other


hand, it’s a huge hassle for the practice to work out which locum it was (if there were several locums in that day and they all had the same username and password), get the notes posted to the locum, chase the locum up, get them to drive in on their free time to talk to the staff or patient, etc. “These barriers can


be resolved by ensuring all locums have unique usernames and passwords and have doorplates


3.82 of what went wrong 3.86


3.78 3.6 3.2


Ensuring that the problem is corrected An open and honest explanation


Those responsible learn the lessons in order to prevent it happening again


Financial compensation Disciplining those responsible An apology


0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20