Advice centre

The medical consultation is a challenge to both doctor and patient, whether in the community or in hospital. The need for more detailed discussions with patients, along with their increasing autonomy and right to make choices in relation to their clinical care and treatment, has affected the traditional role of the doctor-patient relationship. This has made maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in the doctor-patient consultation more challenging, however, the guidance from national and regulatory bodies is clear that it is always the health professional's responsibility to do so.

A patient dies after amoxicillin reaction – we support GP through criminal investigation, inquest and GMC hearing.

Dealing with claims accounts for about 1/5 of the cases we handle. This video examines a claim made against a consultant surgeon because he left out critical information from a patient’s notes.

This video provides some valuable lessons in diagnosis, documentation and the information that needs to be communicated to patients.

This video looks at a scenario where a patient brought a claim against three GPs in the same surgery, and how understanding the varied claims enabled us to support the doctors throughout the whole process.

A private neurosurgeon faces questions on consent, following a lumbar microdiscectomy sciatica and back pain.