Complaints against health professionals regarding patients’ suicidal thoughts and behaviours: retrospective study of disciplinary cases in The Netherlands

Background Suicidal thoughts and behaviours (STBs) are common within healthcare systems. Diagnosing and treating them is challenging for healthcare professionals. Therefore, the way they respond to patients’ STBs constitutes regular grounds for complaints filed against them. Studies on disciplinary complaints regarding STBs are scarce and thus far have exclusively focused on death by suicide and primarily investigated psychiatrists. Aims To gain more insight into disciplinary law cases concerning patients’ STBs in The Netherlands. Method A total of 108 public cases between 2010 and 2021 were codified and analysed. Results Most complaints concerned undertreatment and insufficient involvement of the patient’s relatives or other healthcare professionals. Nearly half of the complaints were filed against psychiatrists. Conclusions Overall, compared with the number of health professionals in The Netherlands, risk of litigation appeared to be very low. Further research could be conducted on the discrepancy between the number of founded and unfounded complaints in first-instance and appeal cases.