How to write a complaint against a doctor, a nurse, or a medical institution || Complaint about the head nurse

Home / Complaints / Competently filing a complaint against a clinic doctor (sample document)

Violation of patients' rights by doctors is not uncommon. For a complaint against clinic staff to be effective, you need to think through the tactics and strategy for its use. That is, it is necessary to submit it to the authority and at the moment when the appeal is most effective.

It is difficult to do this without legal training; below are the main points that allow you to independently draw up a complaint and provide an understanding of the main difficulties and trends in legal disputes with clinic doctors.

Rights of the consumer of medical services

They are based on several laws, namely: on the protection of consumer rights (ZOPPP) and on the fundamentals of protecting the health of citizens (ZOOZG). The first legal act gives citizens the following rights:

• For safe services (Article 7);
• To receive reliable information about the doctor and the treatment, diagnosis, and rehabilitation provided (Articles 8–10);
• To carry out procedures and treatment on time (Article 27);
• To receive quality services (Article 29);
• On information about facts that affect the quality of medical care (Article 36).

In addition, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the Health Protection Act, the patient is given the right to use medical services without having special knowledge about their properties or characteristics. That is, the blame for choosing the wrong methods of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation lies solely with the doctor .

If the Health Protection Act states the quality of medical care in the context of all services, this also applies to other areas, then the second law cited above directly affirms the right of patients to receive high-quality treatment (Article 2). This raises another problem - how to establish this quality. In this case, for lawyers and specialists who will conduct the examination, there is an order of the Ministry of Health dated May 10, 2017 No. 203n. They approve the criteria for assessing the quality of medical care.

For business entities that provide paid medical services, Rospotrebnadzor issued Information on January 2, 2018. The document concerns the protection of the rights of consumers of medical services and has a similar name.

Thus, the patient, as a consumer, is protected by several laws and departmental regulations. They make it easier for lawyers to protect clients from unscrupulous doctors. The latter perceived the fact of an increase in the number of criminal cases and satisfied claims against them as a deliberate action on the part of the authorities.

In practice, two trends are observed:

• Monetary claims against medical government institutions are reluctantly satisfied; the courts deliberately underestimate the amount of claims;
• It is difficult to win a case against private clinics due to competent legal support.

In both the first and second cases, patients are required to have legal literacy and many years of practice. They do not have it, so independently conducting a dispute with significant material demands on the clinic rarely ends in favor of the applicant and plaintiff. This cannot be done without the involvement of practicing lawyers.

If you are interested in the issue related to filing a claim for poor quality services, you can familiarize yourself with this material.

Dissatisfaction with staff performance

Violations of the patient's rights are expressed in the following actions on the part of the doctor:

• Providing poor-quality medical care due to the negligence of clinic employees, unlawful refusal to provide it;
• Failure to observe medical confidentiality, its intentional or careless disclosure;
• Refusal to hospitalize without any reason;
• Making an erroneous diagnosis;
• Incorrect course of treatment;
• Death, disability of the patient, deterioration of his health after medical intervention or refusal of help;
• Extortion of bribes, imposition of paid services.

In the United States, a quarter of a million people die each year due to medical errors. There is more mortality in medicine only due to oncology and cardiovascular diseases.

This is an incomplete list of what can cause complaints from patients against doctors at a medical institution. Rudeness, violation of ethics, and incorrect behavior are also the cause of complaints from patients.

Administrative claim for hospitalization of a citizen

05/17/2019 Vasnetsov Ilya Ilyich, born 06/17/1967, living at the address. Volchikha, st. Kaplusheva, 724, was taken by an ambulance crew called by the relatives of the said person to the Volchikhinsky Psychoneurological Dispensary without his consent until the judge’s decision.

We recommend reading: Russian Railways tariff for schoolchildren

The administrative defendant suffers from a psychiatric illness: “schizophrenia of the catatonic type,” the mental disorder is severe and causes him to be an immediate danger to himself or others, his helplessness, which is confirmed by the conclusion of a commission of psychiatrists on the need for a citizen to stay in a medical organization that provides psychiatric care in inpatient settings conditions, No. 12/в dated 05/17/2019

How to write a letter correctly: compose a competent text

The main difficulty that applicants face is the evidence base. The outcome of the entire dispute depends on it. But this is fair if the patient expects compensation for material and moral damage.

Do you have a question about a complaint against a clinic doctor?

Ask an experienced consumer rights lawyer for a FREE consultation!

Hotline in Moscow: 8 (495) 131-95-79

Ask a Question

In some cases, the evidence base is already in hand - a medical record with a diagnosis and prescribed treatment. It remains to consult with another doctor regarding the chosen methods of therapy. If necessary, an independent medical examination is appointed , which will determine the quality of medical services, namely:

• Timeliness of assistance,
• Correct diagnosis;
• Fairness of prescribed treatment.

The specialist’s conclusions establish such violations among clinic doctors as premature diagnosis without the necessary diagnostics, prescription of medications, without excluding individual intolerance or taking into account reactions with other drugs.

A complaint in which the complainant baselessly claims that the doctor made a mistake is viewed with skepticism.

Therefore, a letter written with a complaint against a doctor should not contain wording such as “wrongly prescribed treatment”, “made an incorrect diagnosis”, etc. without supporting documents. Instead, you can indicate “...prescribed treatment, after which the condition worsened. This was expressed in the following...”

Next, you need to refer to other information that indicates an incorrect diagnosis and the chosen treatment, for example: “in clinic No. 2, the doctor refuted the previous diagnosis, established another cause of frequent cough...”

Sample document

The structure of the complaint is the header, the plot, the motivational part and the requirements. The first part indicates the legal name of the institution to which the application is being submitted, the applicant’s passport details and the name of the document.

The plot briefly summarizes:

1. Circumstances due to which the complaint is being sent.
2. The specific decision that is being appealed.

For example, if the patient suffered from the chosen treatment method due to the lack of a full diagnosis (which is confirmed by the conclusions of other doctors or experts), it is recommended to write the following: “___”_______2018 was treated in clinic No.___, the attending physician ___________. I believe that he did not perform the necessary diagnostics, which is why the wrong treatment was prescribed. As a result, my health deteriorated, resulting in _________.

There is no need to describe the details of visits or their number. These facts will be of interest to officials during the investigation.

The motivational part states:

1. What exactly is the violation on the part of the doctor?
2. What rights and legitimate interests were affected.

In addition, you need to refer to the relevant articles of law. But this can not be done if there is no legal knowledge. The management of the clinic is obliged to respond to complaints, independently qualify the actions of the staff, and determine whether there are violations in them or not.

To simplify the preparation of a competent complaint to the clinic, you need to consult a lawyer who will indicate which articles the doctor violated.

The complaint ends with a pleading part , a list of attached documents, the date and signature of the applicant or his representative. You can use a sample to help you file a complaint to the clinic yourself.

The document is available for download

Causes of medical errors

Today, examples of medical errors can be easily found in print media or on the Internet. Despite the fact that this concept is not established by law, it implies poor-quality medical service - an honest mistake by the doctor.

Poor quality treatment can result from:

• lack of modern diagnostic and treatment equipment
• unpredictable action of biological laws
• insufficiently high qualification level, experience, knowledge of medical staff
• use of treatment methods that have lost their relevance
• other causes of medical malpractice

USEFUL: watch a video on protecting the patient and his rights, write your question in the comments of the video and receive FREE legal advice on any issue

Where to submit an appeal?

The completed complaint can be sent to different authorities - from the head of the department to the court (if filed in the form of a claim). It is recommended to start by contacting the head physician . For simple questions that relate to unsanitary conditions or boorish behavior, it is effective to leave a negative review on the institution’s website and forums and portals where information about the clinic is posted.

Appeal to the head physician

The management of public and private clinics is interested in reducing the number of complaints that are available to the public or have reached regulatory authorities. For chief doctors of budgetary institutions, this may result in disciplinary action and removal from office. Private clinics may lose income due to a decrease in clientele due to the spread of bad reviews.

You can make an appointment with the head physician or leave a written application through the secretary. A combined option is recommended: you must come to a personal conversation with a written complaint.

Online review

You can complain about the actions of a clinic doctor through portals and web resources of the city, region, or country. Just type “clinic No.__” in the search bar and indicate the city. In response, it will provide web resources that contain mention of this institution, its operating hours, staff, and where you can leave a review. It is drawn up arbitrarily and may repeat the text of the complaint.

There are precedents when doctors brought a patient to compensation for moral damages for a negative review online.

Therefore, the message you leave should:

• Be truthful;
• Supported by factual evidence.

This will help to avoid problems with the law and financial liability for the damaged reputation of a medical worker. This is especially true for private clinics, whose management may sue for compensation for lost benefits.

Is there any point in complaining to government agencies?

The answer to this question depends on the evidence that the patient has or can collect. In general, the answer is affirmative, the complaint is sent to :

• To the prosecutor's office;
• To Roszdravnadzor;
• To the Ministry of Health.

This is an incomplete list of government bodies to which applications are submitted with complaints about the actions (or inaction) of doctors. Additionally, you can contact Rospotrebnadzor, which is responsible for protecting consumer rights. Receives complaints against doctors and the Regional Department of Health.

General information on where to write a complaint about a hospital is described in this article.

Prosecutor's office

Considers citizens' appeals regarding violations by clinic doctors, if:

• The patient's health has suffered significant damage;
• They led to the death of the patient;
• Paid services were imposed on citizens;
• Bribes were demanded from those seeking medical help;
• Citizens were forced to donate.

The prosecutor's office will not consider situations related to rudeness or violation of consumer rights. The appeal will be returned or forwarded to another authority (usually a clinic) with notification to the applicant.

Roszdravnadzor

The advantage of contacting this body is that there are different ways of contacting it; it considers complaints about all unlawful actions of doctors at the clinic. Roszdravnadzor can be contacted online, by mail, or even by fax.

If desired, necessary and have time, you can make an appointment with management to convey information about the incident at the clinic orally. It takes 3 days to register an application. The answer will be given within 30 days .

Ministry of Health

This body controls the activities of all public and private clinics. Complaints from citizens are necessarily accepted, a preliminary check is carried out and, if there are grounds, if the applicant’s information is partially confirmed, an audit is ordered.

A reaction will follow to any violations by doctors of a medical institution - from rudeness and negligent attitude towards performing duties to improper treatment, demands for bribes and other actions for which criminal punishment is provided. The applicant is informed in writing about the results of the inspection.

The issue of the details of writing a complaint against doctors to the Ministry of Health is discussed in more detail in a separate material. Recommended reading.

We are preparing a lawsuit

When all methods of pre-trial conflict resolution have been exhausted, all that remains is to go to court. The claim is drawn up, filed and considered in general jurisdiction. The patient has no time limit to go to court if the issue concerns damage to health and life, but financial compensation is reimbursed for the last three years.

This means that if the subject of the dispute is incorrect treatment carried out 5 years ago, the patient can go to court. However, he will be entitled to compensation for material damage - expenses for additional treatment, the purchase of special devices, loss of work - which is limited to a period of three years before the filing of the claim.

Where can you complain about a clinic doctor or the entire hospital at once?

1. Receive polite, respectful and humane treatment from your doctor.
2. Choose a doctor and treatment facility.
3. Receive consultations and information about the state of your health, get acquainted with medical documents and be examined at consultations.
4. Ask for measures that can relieve pain (and refusal in this case is impossible).
5. free assistance under the compulsory medical insurance policy, as well as emergency assistance.
6. To agree or not to certain manipulations and refuse medical intervention.
7. Count on non-disclosure of information about him.
8. Have a representative .
9. Seek spiritual support.
10. Appeal any actions of medical personnel that resulted in deterioration of health, and receive compensation for damage (financial, moral, physical).

We need to start with the fact that medical care provided in a paid clinic or public hospital clinic is a service. Therefore, everything related to communication between the patient and the doctor, including operations, examinations, medical manipulations, oral recommendations and even a banal greeting should be “on the level” . But in real life the picture is murkier. We may encounter:

We recommend reading: How to get maternity capital to build a house on your own