Is Malpractice on ITV based on a true story?

The new season has once again been written by former doctor Grace Ofori-Attah, but is this new season based on a true story? And was the first?

Read on for everything you need to know about the real-life inspiration behind ITV medical thriller Malpractice.

Is Malpractice based on a true story?

Neither the first nor second season of Malpractice are based on a specific true story, with all the events and characters having been fictionalised. However, the series has been inspired by the real-life experiences of former doctor Grace Ofori-Attah, who moved into screenwriting following a 15-year medical career.

Ofori-Attah explained when the first season was released: "Having been a doctor for 15 years I’ve always been interested in storytelling, and medicine is a career that’s full of stories. The first time you meet a patient, whether it’s in A&E or on a psychiatric ward, you are getting their history, their story.

"And you are trying to figure out, what are the key details? What are the most important reasons why they are here today and how is that relevant to the treatment and the outcome? As I progressed through my career and was doing psychiatry, that story and its relevance became all the more important.

"While Malpractice is set in A&E to reflect what was probably the most difficult junior doctor rotation I’ve ever done, the underlying story is really one about psychiatry, mental health, addiction and how that is pervasive. Not just in medicine but in wider society."

Meanwhile, given her background in psychiatry, Ofori-Attah said the second season, which looks at that speciality, was something she "had in mind for a long time".

What has the writer said about Malpractice on ITV?

Ofori-Attah revealed that, in creating Malpractice, she wanted to "do a piece about the different pressures doctors are under and what it really looks like", with the idea first coming to her in 2019.

She explained that she had been "alarmed" at the number of doctors dying by suicide while under investigation by the General Medical Council, with the inquiry into Lucinda's behaviour on the night of a patient's death proving to be the centre of the series' story.

Ofori-Attah said of her own experiences witnessing these inquiries: "The process just wasn’t considerate to the doctors involved. As a doctor you are constantly worrying about doing something wrong because it’s almost like there’s a presumption of guilt rather than innocent until proven guilty.

"I remember quite early on in my core training, a nurse and a doctor disappearing from our ward overnight because a patient had made an allegation against them. It was like, 'We have to believe the patient immediately and they have to be suspended until it’s investigated.'

"They hadn’t done anything wrong but they still had to go through this awful process, which everyone knew about because they were no longer on the ward. The processes are so punitive. I never really see anything on TV about that investigation process - or about coroner’s inquests, which are a huge part of my medical life.

"So there are scenes of a coroner’s inquest in Malpractice. To show that while doctors may not be on trial there, it feels very much like you are. We filmed those inquest scenes at the very beginning of the shoot and I was there for around half of the filming. It gave me shudders. Even watching it on screen I feel really stressed."

Meanwhile, of the second season's storyline, she said when speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com: "I wanted to do the first season in something like A&E because it is so fast-paced, it’s immediately accessible, everyone kind of has an idea about A&E.

"I do think people are less aware of psychiatry, how it is practised, what it looks like within our hospital system, and so I'd had in mind that if I ever got an opportunity to do more seasons, I would love to do something in psychiatry. So once we got a second series, for me, it was a no-brainer to try and do something within psychiatry.

"In terms of the case that is the inciting incident in episode 1, it is obviously very shocking, but it's something that has come up on more than one occasion.

"It's a case that is recognisable to me as a junior doctor, as a consultant, and I thought it would be really interesting to try and unpick how that happens, why that happens and how the system of the NHS and the way that different specialties are viewed can end up in this catastrophic situation."

Malpractice season 2 will debut on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 4th May, airing at 9pm, while season 1 is available in full on ITVX now.

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