Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. Thus, there is scope for disagreement between doctors; things may be done differently by different doctors; doctors' personalities vary and they may approach their patients in different ways – and sometimes things will go wrong. The fact that something does go wrong does not necessarily mean that the doctor has been negligent and that patients either can or will sue their doctor; nor does it inevitably mean that the doctor will be disciplined (see Chapter 1). Much of the dissatisfaction that sometimes arises within the doctor/patient relationship results from the way in which doctors deal with their patients – by being rude or apparently uncaring – rather than from the quality of the treatment itself. Correspondingly, very often all that patients will be seeking is an honest, polite and speedy response to their complaint.

In some situations, however, it may be that the grievance concerns something more serious. The aggrieved patient then has, essentially, two options. Firstly, he or she can pursue the doctor through the disciplinary channels of either the National Health Service or of the doctor's governing body – that is, the General Medical Council (GMC). Both of these have been described in Chapter 1. For the present it need only be pointed out that, in taking this route, the patient is, in fact, seeking a combination of retribution and reform of the system.