What happens when you contact us with a concern?

When we receive your concern, we’ll review it carefully to see if it’s something we need to investigate.

We appreciate that raising a concern may be stressful, so we’ll look into it and get in touch with you as quickly as we can. The more relevant information you provide, the more quickly we will be able to consider your concern. 

Once we've finished looking into your concern, we'll invite you to a meeting to talk with you about the outcome.

Telling the doctor, physician associate (PA) or anaesthesia associate (AA) and their employer

In some cases, we’ll inform the doctor, PA or AA’s employer about a complaint even when we don’t take it forward for a full investigation. This would be for one, or more of the following reasons:

• to allow the doctor to reflect on the concern as part of their appraisal and revalidation where minor learning points have been identified
• where there is potential for the concern to be part of a wider pattern of behaviour or performance
• to provide potentially relevant information where it is known that a local investigation is ongoing and they may not be aware of the concerns.

What support is available to you

We know from talking to people who have complained to us that it can be a worrying experience. If you need support, there are organisations that can help you.

For example, the Independent Support Service is a free, confidential helpline for patients, witnesses and family members at any time during our investigation.

For other support services available in your area see our local help pages.

If we decide not to investigate your concern 

If we decide not to investigate, we’ll let you know and will explain our reasons. We may show the doctor, PA or AA a copy of your concern so they can use it to learn. We’ll only do this if you’re comfortable sharing the information.

If you don’t think we’ve reached the right decision or you have new information to provide, you can ask us to review our decision under our internal review process (‘Rule 12’). You can find out more about challenging a decision we’ve made about a doctor’s fitness to practise. If the decision relates to a PA or AA, you can contact feedback@gmc-uk.org. 

What happens if we investigate your concern

While we’re investigating your concern, we’ll keep you up to date with what we’re doing. Find out what will happen throughout the process.