Outcomes of disciplinary proceedings against gynaecologists: Comparison between the periods 1980-1991 and 1992-2003

In a study of the archives of the Chief Inspector for Healthcare in the Netherlands during the period 1992-2003, the number of complaints against gynaecologists submitted to disciplinary boards (n = 371) was found to be higher than during the period of 1980-1991 (n = 240). On the other hand, the number of complaints per gynaecologist had decreased from 6.3 complaints per 100 gynaecologists in 1992 to 2.6/100 in 2003. The number of complaints declared legitimate relative to the number of submitted complaints remained the same in both periods (55/240 (23%) in 1980-1991 and 84/371 (23%) in 1992-2003), although the percentage of complaints ruled as legitimate did increase during the course of the second period from 14 between 1992-1997 to 28 during the 1998-2003 period. Interesting points included the number of rulings regarding the death of an infant (40%), the interpretation of the cardiotocography recording, the need to keep medical records up to date (in particular the informed consent) and the fact that almost 50% of complaints ruled to be legitimate related to how the locum position was arranged, the role of the duty gynaecologist and that of the house office