Blog
Rayner my parade! The importance of specialist advice.
Jemma Brimblecombe
21 December 2017
Mistake in every 5 births
The publicity surrounding the alarming statistic that in one in every 5 births there are lapses that lead to mistakes is scary. Jeremy Hunt’s desire to make it his “top priority” to tackle these incidents is a step in the right direction because any mistake in maternity care can have devastating consequences.
11 December 2017
The PAC report has a point
The report by The Public Accounts Committee looking at financial pressures on the NHS rightfully criticises the government for being too slow to get to grips with the burgeoning cost of negligence. It found that the annual cost of clinical negligence for NHS trusts has quadrupled over the last decade (from £400 million in 2006/07 to £1.6 billion in 2016/17) diverting precious resources away from patients and frontline services. It also warned that the NHS’s defensive culture when things goes wrong needs to change.
24 November 2017
A short guide to the accommodation conundrum
For those hoping for confirmation of what approach the judiciary is going to take now that JR is settled, sadly, this blog cannot provide that. However, this blog does take stock of the current situation, looks at how we got here and tries to offer some insight into where we might be going.
8 November 2017
Professor Keogh Speaks Out – NHS Patient Safety
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph on 29 October 2017 Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS National Medical Director, said that patients were being left in danger because of the absence of any central NHS system ordering changes in practice on safety grounds. Patients are being left at risk of suffering needless harm, including amputations, devastating maternity complications and in some circumstances, death. All this because a lack of action to protect patients from known risks.
19 October 2017
Safety in private healthcare
The BBC Panorama documentary “How safe is your operation?” which aired on 16 October 2017, identified worrying accounts of patients injured through private medical treatment.