Anthony Omo, the GMC’s Director of Fitness to Practise, looks at some of the findings of research from Plymouth University and considers what this means for the GMC.

Complaints about doctors have been on the rise for some time. In 2012 we received more than 8,000 complaints about doctors – a rise of over 100% since 2007. Part of this increase is down to a welcome change in culture where more doctors are speaking up when things go wrong. However over half of all complaints in 2012 came from members of the public.

This increase is not unique to the medical profession: we have seen similar trends across the NHS. However some of the complaints that we receive from the public could and should be resolved at a local level. Just one in five of these complaints met our criteria for a full investigation in 2012 and this raises important…