Everybody accepts that we all make mistakes, and that we learn from them. The problem is that when doctors such as myself make mistakes the consequences can be catastrophic for our patients. Most surgeons – there are always a few exceptions – feel a deep sense of shame when their patients suffer or die as a result of their efforts, a sense of shame which is made all the worse if litigation follows. Surgeons find it difficult to admit to making mistakes, to themselves as well as to others, and there are all manner of ways in which they disguise their errors and try to put the blame elsewhere.
