Common medical claims
Medical negligence or clinical negligence refers to cases where doctors or other medical professionals failed to properly fulfill their duty of care. In some instances, a failure to diagnose a condition successfully, or a misdiagnosis, can amount to negligence. It can also take the form of misleading advice. Most commonly, however, medical claims occur after a preventable error is made during a medical procedure.
With many maternity wards becoming increasingly overstretched, birth-related injuries are a real problem – between 2003 and 2006, there were 60,000 mistakes in NHS maternity wards in the UK. 246 pregnant patients died during that period, and many more suffered injuries such as perforated bowels, which were repaired during birth in some cases. Babies are also at risk during childbirth, and there have been cases of brain damage and permanent disablement resulting from negligent treatment during maternity care. Cerebral palsy is one of the more common conditions, with causes including delayed delivery (thus deprivation of oxygen), failure to diagnose/treat low blood sugar, failure to diagnose/treat jaundice, and delayed diagnosis/treatment of serious conditions like meningitis. Treatment of cerebral palsy is a lifelong process incorporating a range of different therapies, and often drugs to control seizures.
Patients affected by so-called hospital ’superbugs’ such as MRSA may also often be entitled to compensation for medical negligence. Whilst MRSA isn’t any more aggressive than other infections, it is more resistant to treatment. As people are usually ill already when they contract MRSA, they are less able to fight it, meaning that antibiotics have to be administered urgently. However, this is not always effective, and patients can suffer festering infections which can cause tissue destruction and chronic disability. If a hospital has not devoted appropriate resources to cleanliness, this may constitute grounds for a compensation claim.
Most healthcare professionals do an excellent job, and most patients are grateful for the high standard of care they receive. However, where patients are injured or made ill unnecessarily, it is only right that they should have a legal recourse through which they can bring those responsible to account.