ABSTRACT
Patients tend to be more informed about medical problems these days, and may have a lower threshold for filing complaints if they consider that some aspect of their management has been unsatis factory. This does not usually happen very often. Although some times a complaint may be justified, some people tend to complain more out of frustration, and it is easy to feel offended and personally attacked in such cases, which can be threatening and quite upsetting. However, complaints also provide invaluable feed back, and it is important for you to know whether patients or relatives are unhappy with any aspect of your management, for whatever reason. Most complaints are not necessarily a criticism against you personally, but rather an action arising from uncer tainty, anger, worry or helplessness, so be prepared to expect complaints at any time in your professional career, even if you have not made any mistakes, and try to avoid knee-jerk reactions.
