Table 4

Characteristics of the impaired/incompetent colleague*

	Characteristics impaired or incompetent colleague		Acted upon experience of impaired/incompetent colleague
	N	%	N	%
Total	390		266/388	68.6
Professional
Of same profession	255	77.5	174	68.2
Of another profession	74	22.5	45	60.8
Organisation
In my practice or organisation	230	64.6	182	79.1
Outside my organisation	126	35.4	62	49.6
Patient safety at risk
No/I don't know	251	65.0	154	61.4
Yes	135	35.0	111	82.2
Cause of incompetence†	328	84.1	222	67.7
Substandard care	223	57.2	149	66.8
Collaboration problems with colleagues	156	40.0	114	73.1
Communication problems with colleagues	159	40.8	122	76.7
Communication problems with patients	120	30.8	89	74.2
Cause of impairment†	127	32.6	95	74.8
Substance abuse (eg, drugs or alcohol)	33	8.5	22	66.7
Disruptive behaviour	56	14.4	39	69.6
Physical impairment	18	4.6	15	83.3
Mental illness	39	10.0	35	89.7