Complaint management and professional regulation — structured clinical viva

This viva tests professional dual loyalty: compassionate justice for families and safe support for staff, under public-protection duties.^[2][4]

Definitions. Separate complaint (dissatisfaction), claim (civil remedy), and fitness-to-practise/regulatory process (public protection). Map content to clinical, management, and relationship domains.^[4]

Why complain. Explanation, accountability, apology, prevention (Vincent). Disclosure gap between patient expectations and physician fear (Gallagher).^[3][5]

Immediate pathway. Preserve records; open disclosure of known facts; governance and indemnity; never pressure withdrawal or alter notes.^[3][5]

Second victim. Bourne morbidity; Seys second-victim review; assess suicide and fitness; support and restrict duties if unsafe.^[2][6]

Recurrent risk. Bismark concentration of recurrent complaints; proactive remediation, not fatalism.^[1]

Legal safety. Principles only — no invented section numbers. Regulatory and complaints processes are jurisdiction-specific; quote principles rather than fabricated statutes.^[1][2]