Patients' complaints: the disciplinary system regarding evaluation of physicians' conduct.

The study comprises all complaints which patients have made to the Danish National Board of Health in 1984-1985. The Board had disciplinary powers over physicians and advises the public prosecutor in cases of gross negligence that are to be brought before a court. There were 531 complaints on average per year. The frequency of complaints was 1.0 complaint per 10,000 population. A large part of the complaints concerned cases where no physical harm occurred (45%), and in only a small portion (16%) were there serious injuries. The Board found that negligence had occurred in 21% of the complaints, and 1% of the cases were considered to be gross negligence. There were appeals against 17% of the rulings, and of these 9% were either wholly or partly upheld.