'Doing the right thing' after an adverse event.

Each year, the New Zealand Health and Disability Commissioner receives over a thousand letters of complaint from patients and their families, many of whom have suffered an adverse event. Often, the focus of their hurt and anger is not the injury itself, but the failure of a health professional to 'do the right thing' in the aftermath of the event. And in most cases, 'the right thing' requires no more, and no less, than living up to the ethical standards that we practise in everyday life: honesty, compassion, saying sorry, and a willingness to learn. Acknowledging that an adverse event has occurred can be hard, and facing up to an injured patient or bereaved family can be even harder. But the alternative scenario of silence and abandonment is worse: for patients, their families, and their health professionals.