Polski Dzial Doctors and Nurses Must Apologise for Medical Mistakes Under New Rules
According to new medical candour guidelines, midwives, nurses and doctors will be required to make verbal apologies to patients following any medical mistakes. Under new duty of candour rules, medical professionals will be encouraged to apologise as soon as they have realised there was an issue following new guidance from the General Medical Council and […]
Medical Errors Lead to Brain Damage after Birth
A 13-year-old boy who suffered a severe brain injury as a result of medical errors following his birth has been awarded compensation amounting to several millions of pounds, reports the BBC. Ben Harman was born in Kent and Canterbury Hospital in 2002. After his birth he apparently displayed symptoms associated with low blood sugar, but […]
Lanarkshire Woman Wins Supreme Court Damages Claim
A Lanarkshire woman who took her battle to claim compensation for her son’s birth-related injuries all the way to the Supreme Court has finally been awarded damages amounting to £5.25 million, reports the BBC. Nadine Montgomery, who has diabetes, gave birth to her son Sam in October 1999 at Bellshill Maternity Hospital, Lanarkshire. Women with […]
Compensation Awarded for Mother’s Death
A woman has been awarded a five figure sum of damages following the death of her mother, who died after receiving “below standard care” at a hospital in North Staffordshire, reports the Daily Mail. Seventy-year-old Sheila Baker was admitted twice to The University Hospital of North Staffordshire with severe stomach pains. On her second visit, […]
European Action to Improve Patient Safety
The European Commission has recently published details on how the Commission and EU countries are addressing the challenge of patient safety. The release includes information on progress made since 2012, and outlines the barriers that need to be overcome to improve patient safety as foreseen in a Council Recommendation of 2009. The information highlights that […]
Widow Compensated after Incorrect Diagnosis
A widow has been awarded £50,000 in compensation after a GP failed to realise that her husband was suffering from bowel cancer, reports the BBC. Christopher Goodhead first went to see the doctor with symptoms in 2005, which were incorrectly diagnosed. When the cancer was eventually diagnosed, two years later, it had become terminal. He […]
Medical Innovation Bill threatens to ‘erode patient safety’
A draft Bill designed to give doctors in England and Wales the freedom to practise innovative medicine on patients is both dangerous and unnecessary, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has said in response to a Government consultation. The Medical Innovation Bill, devised by Lord Saatchi, aims to save lives by removing a perceived […]