Doctors at risk

Key factors identified for doctors at risk of complaints, malpractice claims or impaired performance

Substance abuse and burn-out are the most common factors associated with doctors at risk of impaired performance. Being an older male, with more years spent in practice and a larger number of patients is associated with a higher risk of malpractice claims or complaint.

New research led by Macquarie University and involving the Medical Council of New South Wales, has identified twenty-three key factors, classified as either demographic or workplace related, as contributing to a doctor’s risk of complaints, malpractice claims or impaired performance. In Australia malpractice claims are known as medical negligence compensation.

In Australia, 7254 medical practitioners had complaints registered against them in a 12-month period according to figures from the Medical Board of Australia. According to the research, doctors practising in Queensland or Victoria had a higher risk of complaints.

The researchers found that while no one factor was likely to indicate if a doctor was at risk, it was possible to better understand, through a combination of factors, when a medical practitioner’s ability to function safely and provide high quality care might be affected.

Understanding these factors will enable regulators to support high-risk medical practitioners early, before patients are harmed and before it is necessary to impose conditions or restrictions on their registration, said Associate Professor Robyn Clay-Williams, from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University.

“This research will also make a valuable contribution to how medical practitioners can be alert to risk factors in themselves and their own practice. Regulatory bodies, colleagues and patients will also benefit from being better able to identify at-risk doctors.”

The study reviewed research articles published in English in academic journals between 2011 and 2020.

Further findings from the international study include:

• Older doctors were generally found to be at 1.1–1.4 times greater risk of malpractice claims or complaints when compared with younger doctors
• Younger doctors at risk of impaired performance were more likely to be affected by environmental factors (e.g. work induced fatigue), while older doctors (e.g. 59–90 years of age) were at greater risk of impaired performance due to cognitive disorders
• Compared with females, males made up 91%–92% of disciplined doctors
• Surgeons were noted to be 2.3 times as likely to be subject to complaint compared with GPs
• Doctors who were a recipient of a previous claim were reported to be at 1.9 times greater risk of a repeated claim

The research is published in BMJ Open.

CENTRES RELATED TO THIS NEWS

Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science

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