Risk assessment in a climate of litigation

Abstract

There has been a sea change in public attitudes toward the use of litigation in medicine over recent years. Mental health professionals are beginning to add an additional factor to their risk calculations when managing difficult patients: the assessment of risk (of a civil action) to themselves in the event of an untoward incident. This development must be recognised and anticipated if we are to assess fully the potential benefits, and the costs, of closer surveillance of vulnerable patients in the community.