ABSTRACT

Medical practitioners are subject to numerous systems of accountability. One incident, clinical or otherwise, may give rise to: a complaint; disciplinary action by the employing authority; investigation by the Health Service Commissioner (the Ombudsman); a claim for compensation; an investigation by the GMC under one of its Fitness to Practise procedures; a criminal investigation and, in the event of a death, a Coroner’s inquiry or, in Scotland, a Fatal Accident Inquiry by the Procurator Fiscal.