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As clinical negligence specialists, we help those who have sadly been injured as a result of problems with the standard of medical treatment that they have received. It is with concern that we observe the difficulties that are continuing to unfold within our National Health Service this winter.
Patients are being harmed by delays in emergency treatment and response times
The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) reported that ambulance handover times had almost doubled from December 2021 to December 2022 and that patients waiting more than one, two and three hours had reached unprecedented levels. AACE managing director Martin Flaherty said it was estimated that around 57,000 patients experienced potential harm as a result of long handover delays in December 2022, with around 6,000 of these experiencing severe harm. These are shocking statistics.
In terms of hospital emergency departments, latest performance figures published by NHS England for January show that many patients faced a wait in excess of 12 hours for a decision on whether they should be admitted. Following a decision to admit, 42,000 patients waited more than 12 hours to then be admitted.
Patients are dying
Adrian Boyle, President of the College of Emergency Medicine, told Times radio in January it is estimated that ‘between 300 and 500 people are dying as a consequence of delays and problems with emergency care each week’.
Recently, several Coroners have written to government ministers highlighting a systemic crisis in delays in accessing emergency treatment and calling for improvements.
Senior Coroner for Gwent, Caroline Saunders, following the death of Dorothy Jones, expressed concerns that despite repeated assurances that action would be taken on ambulance delays, there had in her opinion been no ‘appreciable improvement’. Dorothy Jones had seen her GP, who considered she required immediate admission to hospital, and requested an ambulance to attend within two to three hours. However, it took more than nine hours for the ambulance to arrive, by which time she had died.
A report from the Chief Coroner for Norfolk made clear that the problem is wider and more complicated than just delays in ambulance response times. It stated that King’s Lynn Hospital was ‘unable to discharge patients who are medically fit to be discharged and they remain occupying much needed beds.
This in turn means patients cannot be moved from the emergency department into the hospital wards and patients remain waiting in ambulances. This in turn causes delays in ambulances being returned to normal duty.’
Constant risk to patient safety
Broader problems within the NHS have been put in the spotlight by The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee whose chair, Meg Hillier, has stated that ‘staff shortages and the dire condition of the NHS estate pose a constant risk to patient safety’. The committee has raised concerns that the government is ‘delaying crucial interventions’ and says major issues at a national level need to be addressed, including critical workforce shortages.
From all of this it would appear that there is some way to go before the situation is fully resolved.
Legal claims
Most often, claims for clinical negligence centre around allegations against individual medical practitioners for failings in care. However, claims can be brought against hospital trusts or other bodies for systemic failings, such as those discussed in this article.
There is a fundamental question to consider in this regard as to whether individuals, who may well be overworked, should be identified as being negligent or whether the focus of claims should be on systemic failings.
Rob Heywood, Professor of Medical Law and former Deputy Head of the UEA Law School argues that by focusing on individual failures, “Valuable opportunities to identify any broader underlying factors which may have caused patient harm, and to learn from any wider institutional failings, are thus lost.”
At Kingsley Napley, we are specialists in bringing negligence cases for emergency treatment problems including claims for systemic failures. We work with experts in emergency medicine, paramedics and other specialisms to assess, for example, whether a call for an ambulance was categorised correctly, whether a patient was appropriately triaged in A&E and whether the right treatment was given.
If you are worried that you, or someone you care about, could have avoided injury with timely admission to hospital then please call us on 020 7814 1200.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any questions or comments about the topics discussed in this blog, please contact Eurydice Cote or any member of the Medical Negligence & Personal Injury team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eurydice Cote is a Senior Associate in the Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury Team. She represents individuals who have sustained catastrophic injuries. Eurydice has helped clients with traumatic injuries, including spinal cord injury, amputation, orthopaedic injuries, gastrointestinal injuries and loss of vision.
We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
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