GPs face complaints over prescribing, Pulse reports

Pulse has reported that numerous GPs are facing hundreds of complaints to the General Medical Council (GMC) concerning their prescriptions.

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request uncovered that a total of 1,096 complaints had been submitted accusing GPs of ‘irresponsible or inappropriate prescribing’, between 2012-15.

However, almost 800 of the complaints were dismissed with no action taken.

GPs leaders have criticised that the high numbers of ‘banal’ complaints have lead to a considerable waste of time. Medico legal experts have also called for a review of the system, to ensure unsubstantiated complaints were dealt with locally.

The investigation showed that 72 per cent of the complaints were concluded without action, while 11 per cent involved issuing advice, but with no action. The majority of complaints that were investigated included non-specific allegations of GPs having prescribed ‘inappropriately’ or ‘irresponsibly’.

Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, senior medicolegal adviser at Medical Protection said: “The data from the GMC shows that over 80 per cent of cases reported to them for inappropriate or irresponsible prescribing are concluded without any formal action. These results are not surprising, and we believe that questions of fitness to practice should be reserved for the most serious issues.”

A spokesperson for the GMC said:  “Independent research commissioned by the GMC published in 2012 found that one in 20 GP prescriptions sampled contained an error but that severe errors are rare. But, when they do happen they can have serious consequences; however, if they are one-offs, unlikely to be repeated and the doctor recognises the impact of their error, they do not require us to take fitness to practise action to protect future patients.”