The study comprises all complaints which patients have made to the Danish National Board of Health in 1984–1985. The Board has disciplinary powers over physicians and advises the public prosecutor in cases of gross negligence that are to be brought before a court.
There were 531 complaints on average per year. The frequency of complaints was 1.0 complaint per 10,000 population. A large part of the complaints concerned cases where no physical harm occurred (45%), and in only a small portion (16%) were there serious injuries. The Board found that negligence had occurred in 21% of the complaints, and 1% of the cases were considered to be gross negligence. There were appeals against 17% of the rulings, and of these 9% were either wholly or partly upheld.
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