Frequently asked questions on how to make a complaint

Please note, The Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 ("2020 Act") commenced on 6 May 2025. If you are making a complaint after 6 May 2025, please visit our Regulated Professions Act 2020 page for information on how your complaint will be processed.

All complaints are initially handled by the Preliminary Proceedings Committee (PPC). It is the role of the Preliminary Proceedings Committee to investigate a complaint, decide whether it warrants further action and provide recommendations to the Medical Council.

Step 1 - Investigation

Step 2 - Inquiry Hearing

or the Preliminary Proceedings Committee finds that:

• No further action is necessary 
• The complaint needs to be referred to another body or authority 
• The doctor should be referred to the Council's performance procedures and activities for an assessment of their knowledge and skill.
• Mediation if deemed appropriate could resolve the complaint and restore the doctor/patient relationship.

The Complaints Process

The Medical Council can consider a complaint about any medical doctor registered in Ireland. This includes doctors working in all branches of medicine, including hospital and general practice. The Medical Council can only look into complaints where a doctor’s fitness to practise is called into question.

The Medical Council can only review complaints on the following grounds:

• Professional Misconduct
• Poor Professional Performance (Important notice on complaints amounting to poor professional performance)
• A relevant medical disability
• A failure to comply with one or more condition(s) attached to a doctor's registration
• A failure to comply with an undertaking given to the Medical Council or to take any action specified in a consent given in the context of a previous inquiry
• Contravention (infringement) of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007
• A conviction in the State for an offence triable on indictment or if convicted outside the State, for an offence that would be triable on indictment in the Irish courts.

For more information, review our document: Guidance on how complaints are assessed.

It is not necessary to instruct a solicitor. However, the Medical Council will accept a complaint made on your behalf from a solicitor. It is important to note, once a complaint goes to a Fitness to Practise Inquiry, the CEO becomes the complainant; however, you may be called as a witness.

The Council is obliged to tell the doctor when a complaint is made about them. The Council will provide the doctor with a copy of the complaint and the doctor will be given the opportunity to respond. All information obtained during the course of the investigation will also be sent to the doctor.

It can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months from the date of receipt of the complaint for the Preliminary Proceedings Committee to make a decision in relation to a complaint. However, depending on the complexity of the complaint, it can longer than the time period specified.

Yes, a complaint can be filed against multiple doctors. However, this is treated and processed as one complaint. You do not have to submit individual complaints for individual doctors.

The case officer is your point of contact throughout the complaints process. The case officer informs you of the progress of your complaint and if they require any additional documentation or information. The case officer will also inform you of decisions made about the complaint and the outcome.

Case officers are trained investigators in the areas of regulatory law, fair procedures and investigative and interviewing techniques. The role of the case officer is neutral and independent and they have no part in the Preliminary Proceedings Committee's (PPC) decision making process.

Complaints can be transferred to another body/ authority if the complaint isn’t within the jurisdiction of the Medical Council to investigate. At times, the complaint may refer to an employer or hospital rather than the doctor. Complaints can also be made to:

• Complain locally
• Request a Health Service Executive (HSE) review
• Complain to the Ombudsman or Ombudsman for Children
• Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)

Healthcomplaints.ie provides information on how to make a complaint; this informative website can help when considering whom your complaint needs to be submitted to.

Patient support groups are also available to assist you in making a complaint to the relevant body.

In order for the Preliminary Proceedings Committee to fully consider your complaint, it is important that you provide documentation such as contemporaneous notes, reports, diary entries, medical records, photographs etc. to the case officer assigned to your complaint. 

Doctors must be registered to practise medicine in Ireland for a complaint to be filed against them.

No a complaint can be submitted at any time.

Yes, a complaint can be withdrawn by the complainant. However, the Medical Council may decide the complaint needs to be investigated further. If the complaint enters into the fitness to practise inquiry stage, you may be asked to participate as a witness and it is your legal obligation to do so.

If you have serious concerns relating to a doctors fitness to practise medicine, the complaint should be made to the Medical Council. If there is any criminal element to the nature of the complaint, you should immediately contact the Garda Síochána. 

Yes, we can facilitate special accommodations on a case by case basis. We would ask that you inform the Council before the inquiry so arrangements can be made, if feasible. Arrangements including translators and sign language interpreter can be made.

View the the Fitness to Practise Inquiry room