This relatively short paperback is an interesting and provocative overview of the literature surrounding doctors’ clinical performance. In an environment where increasing focus and attention is being placed upon understanding why and how medical error occurs and the interaction between the individual and the system, this book is a useful reference resource.

It comprehensively and coherently reviews the literature looking at a range of factors affecting doctors’ performance, and places these very much within a clinical context. Whilst this is not a formulaic manual for carrying out competence and performance assessment, it provides a very useful range of background information for those involved in the field of selection, promotion, and performance assessment.

Whilst this small book is unlikely to find its way onto the shelves of many individual doctors, I think it would perform a useful addition to the library of Chief Medical Officers and Clinical Directors involved in this area.

Although written very much from the perspective of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, the majority of the literature cited within the book would be easily transferable to the New Zealand healthcare environment.