Healthcare professionals experience of being subject to a complaint

This thesis seeks to examine how healthcare professionals experience being subject to a complaint. The frequency of complaints made against professionals within healthcare settings has been steadily increasing, however limited research has focused on how practitioners respond to complaint. This portfolio presents two papers; a meta-synthesis undertaken to systematically review existing qualitative literature on the experience of healthcare professionals subject to a complaint, eliciting 11 eligible papers for inclusion. Data were analysed utilising Reciprocal Transactional Analysis (Noblit & Hare, 1988) from which three themes emerged: ‘significant and aversive emotional impact’, ‘the need for support’ and ‘the legacy of the complaint’. The review highlighted the profound and pervasive impact of the complaint on healthcare professionals and highlighted a need for dedicated support to support the emotional distress and practical implications of the complaint. Furthermore, the review highlighted an overrepresentation of medical professions in the current literature and a lack of awareness of the impact of a complaint at different stages of healthcare professionals’ career. The second paper comprises qualitative exploration of the experience of early career clinical psychologists subject to a complaint whilst employed by the NHS. Ten participants were recruited via purposeful sampling to complete a semi-structured interview. The data was transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2012), revealing two themes. ‘System indifference’ encompassed the callousness of organisational systems as participants reported shock, a sense of being attacked, and unpreparedness during the complaints process. ‘I am a good clinician?’ revealed the powerful and enduring emotional impact of the complaint which left participants reporting profound self-doubt and fear of reputational damage. The study highlighted the significant difficulties associated with receiving a complaint early in career, the adverse impact on a fragile developing professional identity, and the need for structured support and emotional containment.