Answering complaint as FY1
I’m going to try and give context whilst remaining as vague as possible so not to be identifiable. I am an FY1 who has received a complaint about care I gave to a patient in a specific department on a specific day. patient is a regular attender to said department due to functional condition and regular need for analgesia. concerns have been raised about a certain class of medication that is requested by pt and has been prescribed on multiple times against an agreed prior consultant level care plan for when patient presents to hospital. Patient arrives and requests this medication and on call team who don’t know pt prescribe it, and day team are left to try and fix this with much resistance from patient who doesn’t feel able to come off it, apparently this has happened for a number of months and years.
I was given a job on said day of liasing with specialist team and was instructed to take away prescription for drug X and prescribe oral TTO. It was anticipated that patient would not be happy and I was strongly encouraged to remain firm in my decision and document clearly. This was under instruction of admitting consultant and specialist team who made the previously mentioned care plan (team has documented in notes their instructions). Patient was very angry about drug X being taken away despite me explaining I can only do what my seniors instructed. There was much shouting from patient. In the end I had to call my consultant again and the consultant gave instructions to allow patient to remain on drug X a further 12 hours - I documented this and I went home. Pt came off it 12 hours later and walked out the hospital as soon as it came down- we had to post out DC paperwork and I didn’t see them again.
Patient has sent a multi page complaint about me that day specifically and how I attempted to take away drug X on that day and made various complaints about my manner, said that I obviously personally wanted to remove the drug, that I’m cruel and was basically I am a massive arse that shouldn’t be a doctor. They have used the fact that the consultant allowed a further 12 hours as evidence that I was overly harsh and that more senior doctors clearly feel that drug X was necessary and I was attempting to deprive them of appropriate analgesia.
This complaint has been forwarded to me by consultant who has told the complaints team the clinician involved (me) will answer to it and make a statement. Seniors involved have reassured me saying my documentation is completely sound, I was quite literally doing what I was told, and nurses involved are able to recall the day and my bedside manner. Similarly the specialist teams have documented the plan they asked me to enact. I have also never had anything but positive feedback.
Friends however have raised concerns that I am being asked to answer to this complaint as an FY1 doctor and normally the consultant should answer to complaints. More so that this is a very well known patient to the team and the issue of requests for drug X is one that the department/trust as a whole are trying to address at a very senior level, well above my pay grade. I do feel a little as though I’ve been thrown under the bus. The patient is extremely complex and I was literally acting out my orders from higher ups and am a very small piece of an incredibly long timeline. I have a statement ready, I’m able to answer to the entirety of the complaint backed up by documentation I and others made that day, put friends have urged me not to respond and that seniors should be dealing with this on my behalf
What makes me a little uneasy additionally is senior nurses that know this patient well have advised I speak to BMA/ MDU early. They have also told me to check all my social media’s are not findable.
Should I answer to this complaint or should it be my consultant? Should I be having more support from my seniors?
