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Can you keep cool when you receive a complaint about your work?
Complaints are part and parcel of every profession. No matter how common they may be and how hard you work to avoid them, the anxiety that you’ll get one is always there. It’s even more nerve-wracking if you work in healthcare. Often, complaints come with threats of referral to a professional regulator. All of a sudden, your career might be on the line.
This week, Dr Annalene Weston of Dental Protection Australia joins us to discuss how to stop taking complaints personally. We talk about the thought process that comes with patient complaints and discuss strategies on how to depersonalise and best deal with them.
If you want to know the mindset shift that will change how you deal with complaints., listen to our full conversation in this episode of You Are Not a Frog.
Show links
Episode 78: Complaints and How to Survive Them Ep1: Preparing to Fail Well with Drs Sarah Coope, Annalene Weston and Sheila Bloomer
Episode 80: Complaints and How to Survive Them Ep2: What to Do When You Make a Mistake with Drs Clare Devlin and Dr John Powell
Episode 82: Complaints and How to Survive Them Ep3: Surviving the Process with Drs Jessica Harland, Caroline Walker, and Heidi Mounsey
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury
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About the guests
Reasons to listen
- Learn the root of practitioners’ fear of receiving a complaint.
- Find out how you can shift your mindset around getting complaints.
- Discover the value of support when dealing with complaints inside and outside your control.
Episode highlights
Getting More Complaints in Healthcare
Getting Affected by Complaints Even When You’re Not at Fault
Fear of Complaint
Mindset Shift around Getting a Complaint
Understanding It from the Patient’s Point of View
Being Right vs Being Good in a Relationship
Dealing with Things Outside Your Control
Getting Struck Off
What Helps When Dealing with Complaints
How to Depersonalise Complaints
Annalene’s Top Three Tips in Dealing with Complaints
Forgive Yourself
Episode transcript
Rachel Morris: There’s one thing that humans in every profession, well, that I’ve come across, seem to fear more than anything else, and that’s getting a complaint. In healthcare, it’s doubly hard because complaints often come following a mistake or a negative, difficult outcome, and are often accompanied by the threat of referral to your professional regulator who could literally end your career. No wonder we live in fear of them and do everything in our power to avoid getting one. The majority of complaints are out of our control, and any doctor, dentist, or healthcare practitioner is more likely…
