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Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
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Despite ongoing improvements in patient safety, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), medical harm remains a leading cause of death worldwide. As a result, the institute is redoubling its efforts to highlight the problem during its annual event – Patient Safety Awareness Week – running from 12 – 18 March 2023.
The initiative is to focus on how further action can be taken, both locally and globally, and we strongly support the IHI in its ambition to inspire change.
As clinical negligence solicitors we work exclusively with clients who have been harmed by issues with medical care, or who have lost a loved one as a result.
Which medical mistakes pose big risks to patient safety?
Medication errors are a major problem both globally and in the UK. According to a report in the British Medical Journal in 2020 it was estimated that more than 237 million medication errors were made every year in England, leading to over 1,700 deaths.
NHS Resolution, the body dealing with legal claims against the NHS, says the most common medications to be implicated in incidents leading to clinical negligence claims appear to be anticoagulants, opioids, antimicrobials, antidepressants and anticonvulsants.
Another significant issue for patient safety is where conditions such as cancer and fractures are misdiagnosed or there are delays in diagnosis. NHS Resolution reports that between 2017 and 2021 the number of claims and incidents they received, where the primary cause was ‘failure/delay diagnosis’ or ‘wrong diagnosis’, was 8,713.
Surgical errors are a further concern, and can include anaesthetic errors, foreign objects being left after a surgery and surgery being undertaken on the incorrect patient or body part. NHS Resolution reports that in 2021 – 2022 it paid compensation in 130 cases involving a foreign body left in situ and 54 claims for wrong site surgery.
What is being done?
There are a number of initiatives in the UK at the moment. NHS England has a Patient Safety Strategy and says ‘much has been accomplished in patient safety research, but much more still needs to be done.
‘Many questions about how to improve safety remain unanswered; there are significant knowledge gaps where research is needed to provide a far better understanding of the issues and potential solutions.’
The law and patient safety
The law is a key factor for patient safety, providing the framework for healthcare delivery and holding medical practitioners accountable, both by way of the civil courts - through claims of clinical negligence - and the criminal courts, where in extreme circumstances practitioners can face charges of gross negligence manslaughter.
There is a legal duty of candour on healthcare providers. They must follow specific requirements when things go wrong, including informing people and providing truthful information. Being honest and open about mistakes is clearly vital for patient safety in order to learn and improve.
At Kingsley Napley we are passionate about the importance of patient safety and the role that the law plays in this.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any questions or comments about the topics discussed in this blog, please contact Rebecca Linnell or any member of the Medical Negligence & Personal Injury team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Linnell is an Associate in the Medical Negligence Department who acts for a range of clients dealing with both medical negligence and personal injury claims. Rebecca assists the Partners in the Department with complex claims including negligence relating to spinal injuries, birth injuries, obstetric injuries, ophthalmic injuries and cases where there has been a fatality. She also has experience in dealing with issues surrounding patient consent and delays in diagnosis. Rebecca additionally assists clients who have sustained catastrophic injuries from road traffic accidents.
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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