Impact of legal processes on doctors’ mental health

A new study is recruiting participants for a study exploring the impact of medico-legal processes on the mental health and wellbeing of doctors with pre-existing injuries or illnesses.


Project details
Medico-legal claims, complaints and disciplinary processes aim to protect the public. However, many health practitioners experience distress because of these processes, despite most processes resulting in no action being taken against the medical practitioner.

A pending question, however, is whether these investigative processes, which lead to distress for doctors, can compromise patient safety and quality of care. This may be especially relevant for doctors with previous conditions.

This project seeks to better understand the impact of medico-legal claims, complaints and disciplinary processes on the mental health, emotional wellbeing, treatment, and recovery of doctors with certain medical conditions.

Recruiting details
Researchers are recruiting doctors with a physical or mental illness. Doctors may be eligible to participate if they:

  • Lived experience of cognitive impairment, mental illness or drug or alcohol difficulties
  • Have experienced a medico-legal claim, complaint or disciplinary process in the last two years.

What you need to do
Participants of this study will be required to:

  • Read some information about the study
  • Sign a consent form if you wish to participate
  • Participate in a fully de-identified interview lasting 90-minutes

Interested?
For more information follow these links:

Official website

Informational sheet

 Contact information