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NHS staff should inform patients of negligent acts
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Return to Vaccination News Home Page __» Right-click to "open in new window" Subscribe to the Vaccination NewsLetter View past & current Scandals (columns by Sandy Mintz) Search This Site using keywords http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7405/7
BMJ 2003;327:7 (5 July)
NewsNHS staff should inform patients of negligent actsClare Dyer, legal correspondent BMJ
Doctors and managers in the NHS will be placed under a statutory "duty of candour" requiring them to tell patients when a negligent act or omission causes harm, under plans for sweeping reform of the clinical negligence system unveiled this week.
A new NHS "redress scheme" will offer a compensation package of remedial care, apologies, and compensation up to £30 000 ($49 670; €43 170) without the need for litigation, and no-fault compensation for babies with severe birth related neurological damage. The redress scheme, to be administered by a new body based on the NHS Litigation Authority, is the key plank of Making Amends, the long awaited report from the chief medical officer, Professor Liam Donaldson. The consultation paper makes 19 recommendations but rejects the full no-fault compensation scheme that many doctors wanted. Doctors at the BMA's annual representative meeting in Torquay this week overwhelmingly passed a motion supporting a full system of no fault compensation for clinical errors, with maximum financial limits. Patients covered by the proposed new redress scheme will have the option of litigation instead if they choose, but they will waive their right to litigate if they accept compensation under the scheme. The redress scheme will be closely aligned to the new NHS complaints procedure, and making a claim for compensation will no longer be a disqualification for pursuing a complaint. Compensation under the scheme, which would initially cover the hospital sector but could be extended to primary care, will be paid for "serious shortcomings in NHS care if the harm could have been avoided." Statutory provisions aimed at ending the "culture of blame" would give protection from disciplinary action to doctors and others who report medical errors, except for criminal offences and cases where it would not be safe for the professional to continue to treat patients. Brain damaged babies currently account for 5% of compensation claims but 60% of the clinical negligence budget. Under the proposals, parents would be provided with a managed medical care package for their child, monthly payments for other care of up to £100 000 a year, lump sum payments for home adaptations and equipment of up to £50 000, and compensation for pain and suffering, capped at £50 000. The Medical Protection Society and the Medical Defence Union welcomed the report, particularly the no-fault scheme for neurologically impaired babies. Groups representing patients and lawyers were more cautious. Peter Walsh, chief executive of Action for Victims of Medical Accidents, said there was a risk that without independent advice "people will feel under pressure to settle for what could be much less than they need or deserve." David Marshall, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said: "It is vital that patients are given the freedom to consider any offer with an independent lawyer who can help to ensure the patient receives the package which is most suitable."
Making Amends is available on the Department of Health's website at www.doh.gov.uk/makingamends Rapid responses:Read all Rapid responses
© 2003 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd Return to Vaccination News Home Page __» Right-click to "open in new window" DISCLAIMER: All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.
DISCLAIMER: All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.
Copyright 2012 by Vaccination News, A Non-Profit Corporation. All Rights Reserved. This content may not be copied unless permission in writing from Sandy Gottstein has been obtained. 
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 "A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth." -- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901 "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820 "What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?" -- Sandy Gottstein "Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?" -- Sandy Gottstein |
