What should doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates do if something goes wrong?
- What should doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates do if something goes wrong?
- How should I be treated?
If a doctor, physician associate or anaesthesia associate is concerned about safety
If a doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate thinks there’s a patient safety risk, there are steps they have to take.
- If it’s possible to put the matter right, they should do so – for example, by making sure the patient’s basic needs are met.
- Use local reporting systems to report their concern.
- Ask for advice if they are concerned that a colleague may not be fit to practise. If they are still concerned, it’s important that they report this.
What can patients do to support a safer healthcare system?
All doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates have an appraisal to review their performance and identify areas where they can develop their practice.
At least once every five years, doctors also have to seek formal feedback from their patients. Physician associates and anaesthesia associates may also ask you for your feedback. You can help doctors and others to improve their practice by completing questionnaires honestly and fairly.
If you see anything that you feel could put you – or someone else – at risk, tell a doctor, physician associate, anaesthesia associate, nurse or another health professional.
If you have suspected medicine side effects tell your doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate. They will report it through the yellow card scheme, helping the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) monitor the safety of all healthcare products in the UK.
If you are concerned about something your doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate has done, you can make a complaint. Usually you should do this locally – to your GP practice or local hospital. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can raise your concerns through local NHS procedures or with local patient organisations, such as:
- Healthwatch in England
- Patient and Client Council in Northern Ireland
- Patient Advice and Support Service in Scotland
- Llais in Wales.
If you have a serious concern about a doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate, you can raise it with us.
If something goes wrong with your care
If things go wrong:
- you can expect your doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate to be open and honest with you
- if it’s possible to put matters right, they should do so
- whether or not your doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate can put matters right you can expect them to apologise and explain what happened (apologising does not, of itself, mean that they are admitting legal liability for what’s happened).
- you can also expect your doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate to report the incident.
If there’s a complaint or inquiry about a doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate
If a concern is raised with us about a doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate , we’re legally required to assess if they may pose any current and ongoing risk to public protection. We do this by considering their overall ability to perform their role, their professional and personal behaviour, and the impact of any health condition on their ability to provide safe care to patients.
Our assessment includes looking at whether a doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate has departed from the professional standards and if so, the extent of that departure. This doesn’t mean that if they haven’t met a professional standard we would always need to act. Once we’ve assessed the risk to public protection, we’ll need to consider if regulatory action may be required in response to the concern.
You can read more about how we assess and respond to fitness to practise concerns on our webpages, Fitness to practise explained.
If there’s a complaint, investigation or inquiry about a doctor’s, physician associate’s, or anaesthesia associate’s practice you can expect them to respond promptly, fully and honestly to support the investigation to find out what happened and whether changes can stop it happening again.
Your doctor, physician associate, or anaesthesia associate mustn’t let a complaint affect the care or treatment they provide or arrange for you.
They should only end a professional relationship with you if the breakdown of trust means they can’t continue to provide you with good clinical care.
Note: This guide has been prepared for patients – it is not formal guidance for doctors, physician associates, or anaesthesia associates. Doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates must follow the standards and principles set out in the professional standards.
