Clinical Medical Negligence
Every physician fears the call stating a complaint from a former patient as they realise it may lead to a long, drawn out compensation claim. There is always a risk that something could have gone awry during even the simplest operation. What happens when the former patient is the problem?
Case in point - a drunken woman stumbles into the hospital and is seen by one or more doctors, examined and diagnosed as needing merely tea and a sandwich, then sent on her way, but on her way home falls and injures her leg. Is that the fault of the physicians that examined her? The woman in question actually wrote a letter to the head of the trust to complain that the physicians who had attended her let her leave while still inebriated and their negligence led to her fall.
The injury she sustained to her leg was not serious enough for medical attention and she did not even return to the attending doctor, but instead went straight home. Now, she claims she is entitled to compensation for the injury. Since the woman made a formal complaint about the incident, the hospital management are obliged to investigate fully. After her day in court, the woman's case was thrown out, but it is unreasonable cases like this that sometimes are actually awarded compensation that doctors remain in fear.
Another case in point is where a woman who had overdosed received a £2.8 million compensation payout because she suffered brain damage after the ambulance her husband called could not find the location and arrived in 26 instead of 10 minutes. That coupled with alleged treatment failures en route to the hospital and the fact that she was a young mother suffering from post-natal depression, aided in her winning the award. The ambulance company denied any liability or negligence, but it still paid the compensation. Cases such as this one that receive a compensation payout result in depleting the NHS funds which could and should be used for the truly ill or injured.
The new Compensation Bill has shown that the government has realised the dire straits of the NHS funds and is willing to address the situation through new legislative policy.
Between January 1999 and March 2003, counter fraud work in the NHS has freed up almost £300 million to be spent on patient care, as reported by Jim Gee, Chief Executive of the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) but continued work is needed. Speaking at the third annual NHS Counter Fraud Professionals Conference in London, Mr. Gee offered the following published statistics: 160 out of 163 successful prosecutions (a 98% success rate) and 215 successful civil and disciplinary sanctions have been applied; losses to patient fraud have been dropped from £171 Million to £109 Million; 500% increase in the number of frauds identified and prevented; local investment in counter fraud work by NHS organisations has increased by an estimated 785%; and in certain key areas, NHS professionals has reduced fraud by 25-40%.
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