Medicine is built on trust. Trust between patients and doctors, trust among colleagues, and trust in the systems that hold us accountable.

That trust takes years to earn and seconds to destroy, and nothing destroys it faster than a doctor encouraging a patient to lodge a notification or sue another practitioner without good cause.

The complaints process has an important role. It protects patients, upholds professional standards, and gives the community confidence that the profession is regulated. When genuine harm occurs, it is the right mechanism, and it must be available without fear or favour.

But when it is used as a weapon, it becomes corrosive. A vexatious complaint doesn’t just threaten a career; it destabilises families, undermines confidence, and eats away at the collegiality that safe practice depends on.