(I) Examples of complaints about medical negligence

Doctors are trained to heal, and patients rely heavily on the expertise of doctors when they receive medical treatment. There are inherent risks in medical treatment, but there are occasions when patients became unhappy with the treatment that they have received and wish to make a complaint or initiate legal proceedings for medical negligence.

Common complaints about doctors (note) include:

• failure to attend or treat a patient;
• failure to refer a patient to another doctor who is a specialist in the relevant disease or injury;
• failure to explain medical treatment and warn the patient of the risks of this treatment;
• failure to advise on the options for medical treatment;
• wrongful diagnosis;
• failure to revise an initial diagnosis;
• failure to remove a surgical instrument from the patient's body following an operation;
• failure to arrange a follow-up session or further tests for the patient;
• incompetence.

(Note: In this topic, the term "doctor" also includes other medical practitioners, such as dentists, physiotherapists and nurses.)