Doctors are the most trusted professionals in Australia but many of their patients want them to face more tests and audits of their work, a survey has found.
International research suggests about 6 per cent of doctors (about 6600 in Australia) are underperforming at any given time, and in Australia there are no mandatory checks of their performance over time.
In the past year, more than 5000 complaints were made against doctors in Australia, according the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency's latest annual report.
Despite this, a survey of about 1000 members of the community commissioned by the Medical Board of Australia found doctors topped the list of trusted professionals, with 90 per cent of respondents backing them. They were closely followed by nurses, pharmacists and teachers. Politicians were at the bottom of the list, with just 7 per cent of survey respondents trusting them.
Another survey of about 3000 doctors commissioned by the medical board found almost all of them were confident they were maintaining their competence through professional development activities.
In the previous year, 85 per cent of doctors said they had read books and journals and 81 per cent had attended forums, meetings, workshops and clinical meetings. Three in four had participated in online learning, but only half had been subjected to a clinical audit, and 40 per cent to peer-review activities.
While the majority thought doctors should be reviewed from time to time, one in five said there was no need, and 37 per cent thought it would be a waste of time and money to review all doctors' medical skills and knowledge, as opposed to only those showing signs of poor performance.
Doctors were not interested in sitting exams. Nine out of 10 said they should not have to pass written tests throughout their careers, with most favouring a review of what they've done to keep up with medical developments instead.
In contrast, community members said audits and written tests would be the best way to check them. The general public also had higher expectations about how often doctors should be reviewed. Three-quarters said they should be reviewed at least every five years, compared to 39 per cent of doctors. Furthermore, doctors believed different levels of review should apply to doctors who work infrequently and those aged over 60.
The research comes as the medical board considers ways to identify poor performing doctors and methods to support them so they don't harm patients. A report released by the board in August recommended strengthening the continued professional education of all doctors and better screening of those who may be at risk of poor performance.
The board is likely to make a decision about new competency checks for doctors next year.
Meanwhile, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency's latest annual report said complaints against all health practitioners rose nearly 20 per cent in the year to July compared to the previous year. Complaints against doctors jumped 18 per cent and 13 per cent for nurses.
There were 920 mandatory notifications against health professionals last year - a 24 per cent increase on the previous year. This includes sexual misconduct; working under the influence of drugs or alcohol; or putting people at risk because of a physical or mental impairment, or because of a "significant departure from accepted professional standards".