Report published into how system investigates clinical incidents in NHS
- 13.11.2015
- HannahBottomley
- Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion
On 27 March 2015, the Public Administration Select Committee published its report 'Investigating clinical incidents in the NHS'. I was very pleased to read that one of the conclusions drawn from this recent investigation was that patients and staff deserve to have untoward incidents investigated immediately. The report looked at both avoidable deaths in hospitals as well as the more than 10,000 serious incidents which are reported to the NHS every year.
The report proposes that investigations of untoward incidents ought to be conducted even when a complaint has not been raised so that the facts and evidence are established early. In order to achieve this aim, the report suggests a new single, independent and accountable investigative body which it believes will act as a catalyst to promote a just and open culture across the whole health system.
The report is critical of the current system for investigating untoward incidents in a clinical setting as being too complicated, taking too long and being preoccupied with blame which subsequently prevents lessons from being learned.
Here at PotterReesDolan, we have often found that patients who have suffered serious harm through clinical mistakes have found the complaint process difficult and time-consuming.
I have commented previously that one of the most important aspects to many of our clients is that they can learn exactly what went wrong with their treatment. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of the current system, many patients are prevented from fully understanding what went wrong and why.
Understanding what, if anything, went wrong can have a dramatic impact on a patient and we have often found in matters where an individual has suffered a serious injury such as an acquired brain injury or a spinal injury that identifying where the care and treatment failed helps both the patient and their families move on.
I hope that the Select Committee’s report is given serious consideration in relation to the suggestion of an independent body to investigate untoward clinical incidents however in the meantime we will continue to support our clients in fully investigating the facts regarding the cause of their injuries and hope that through the litigation process we are able to continue to bring closure to what has happened.