Is the law tough enough on medical neglect?
Medical experts have urged the government to create a criminal offence of wilful neglect to protect patients who receive poor treatment which endangers their health and wellbeing.
Calls for such a change have become louder after investigations revealed that between 400 and 1,200 people died as a result of medical neglect at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2009 and 2010. The inquiry found that many patients were "abandoned" without food, drink or medication.
No win, no fee solicitors such as Claims Direct can help people claim compensation if they have suffered "pain, injury or mental injuries" as a result of poor health care.
The road to receiving compensation can be difficult in such cases as it is often hard to prove that poor treatment caused an accident or injury.
Victims of medical negligence can also feel aggrieved that even if a doctor or nurse deliberately neglects a patient in England they can only be prosecuted if the person in their care is mentally ill or dies.
Contributors writing in the Medical Journal of Ethics think that this is a reason why the law should be changed.
Radio debate
Earlier this month, Radio Four's Today programme invited medical ethicist Professor Margaret Brazier to debate the issue with Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association.
Both acknowledged that very few medical professionals get up in the morning "wanting to harm patients".
But Professor Brazier thinks it is unfair that doctors can face a charge of manslaughter when there is no moral culpability involved. She pointed out that, in contrast, "it is very difficult to bring sanctions against managers who might often be responsible for the inability of staff to do the jobs they are supposed to do and are desperate to do".
Her belief seems to be backed by the Mid Staffordshire report's finding that staff were often poorly trained and that junior staff were sometimes left in charge of wards during nights.
Whistle blowers
Mr Meldrum shared Ms Brazier's concern that some medical administrators have become "inured to the culture of neglect". He thinks that greater openness about the problem could end this culture but pointed out that some medical staff in Bristol were labelled "whistle blowers" and had to leave the country after raising their concerns.
Iona Millais, a claimant lawyer specialising in medical negligence who works for Russell Jones & Walker solicitors, is" all too frequently staggered by examples of appalling neglect in hospital".
Yet she thinks that a new law would result in few convictions and thinks that media exposure of neglect could have more impact in changing the culture of poor care that exists among a small minority of professionals.
Sadly, there continues to be incidences of neglect that the media can highlight.
Recent high-profile cases relating to medical negligence include that of Essex man Gary Foster. The 27-year-old died after he was mistakenly prescribed twice the recommended amount of chemotherapy on seven separate occasions.
An inquest found that an input error on a hospital's computer system led to the wrong prescriptions being made.
Gary's case is a sobering reminder of the consequences of medical neglect.
Article from articlesbase.com
Orignal From: Is the law tough enough on medical neglect?
Post a Comment