In recent months the medical profession has suffered blow after blow to its public image.

The trial of Dr Shipman, the Bristol heart surgeon scandal, the storage of children's organs at Alder Hey and other hospitals.

On a lesser scale it is becoming a frequent occurrence to read in our papers about alleged incompetence, mistakes or rude doctors.

Is something happening to public confidence in the medical pro- fession?

These cases are not the only reason for a change in attitudes, another is the rise of compensation. If an accident occurs we now expect, and usually receive, compensation.

A delayed flight, a slip on an icy street missed by the council gritter, these all can secure financial recompense. In medicine the situation is worse, and the money involved potentially far larger.

Unlike many countries we have no system of "no fault" compensation for medical accidents. In Britain you have to prove blame and negligence where in many cases the problem was one of misfortune rather than bad practice. This means cases take long to settle and are frequently acrimonious.

Doctors make mistakes, they are (believe it or not) human. Making a mistake at work is something everyone does.

If you work at Silentnight you might make a faulty mattress, an error at Whitakers and a chocolate may be ruined! If you are a doctor (or a train driver) then the possible consequence of an error is much greater.

A mistake by me may mean a prescription which is ineffective, or worse dangerous. A wrong decision and I may miss a cancer whilst it is still curable.

These are the rules of my job, I get chances to do real good and I also have the risk of doing real harm.

Things are changing for the better. In the past the profession frequently adopted a superior attitude, giving the impression that "we know best".

When things do go wrong we have been slow to admit it and slow to deal with the consequences. This arrogance must change.

If doctors are dangerous or incompetent we should identify them and stop them practising.

A nationwide system for identifying "failing" doctors is, in fact, coming fairly soon, in simple terms an exam to ensure we are up to date and checks on our performance.

We must change at an every day level too. When a doctor makes a mistake they need to be open about it, explain and apologise if necessary.

We cannot always be right, even if we have taken proper care and thought before making our minds up.

In return I think we deserve something back from the public; not blind trust by any means, but at least respect that the vast majority of the time we are doing our best with a difficult job and recognition that if a doctor does not get it right we may not be an idiot, lazy or incompetent, just human.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.