Social media driving doctor complaints

pharmafile | July 21, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing Facebook, GMC, Twitter, doctors, social media 

The advent of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are fuelling complaints about doctors, according to a new report commissioned by UK doctors’ regulator the General Medical Council.

This new study comes after complaints to the GMC have doubled in the past five years.

The report, commissioned by the regulator and undertaken by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, finds that patients discussing their treatment on Twitter and Facebook were one of the main drivers of this increase.

Grievances from the public directed to the GMC doubled between 2007 and 2012 to reach around 6,000, according to the regulator.

Dr Julian Archer, lead author of the report from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, says the study had produced ‘some fascinating findings’.

He goes on: “They show that the forces behind a rise in complaints against doctors are hugely complex and reflect a combination of increased public awareness, media influence, the role of social media technology and wider changes in society.”

Archer adds: “The report also indicated that there is much to do to improve the wider complaint handling system, so that complaints made by the general public about their doctors are directed to the appropriate authorities.”

The advance of social media – and specifically Twitter and Facebook – meant new communities developed where patients could discuss their treatment and easily exchange information on how to complain.

But the majority of the complaints from the public to the GMC were not about individual doctors, but rather about standards of care more generally. These should have been filed to the NHS organisation responsible or to the Care Quality Commission, the authors note.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, says the research shows that patients were more willing to complain and were finding it easier to do so.

But he notes that: “We have no evidence that the rise in complaints against doctors reflects falling standards.”

He adds: “The challenge for the GMC and other organisations is to make sure that anyone who has a concern or complaint can find their way to the right organisation to deal with it. For the vast majority of patients and relatives, that will mean local resolution.

“The large number of complaints we receive that are not for us suggests that the current system is not working as well as it should.”

Ben Adams 

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