Claiming For An In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
It is unthinkable that medical staff in hospitals should fail to identify a patient displaying the warnings signs of an impending cardiac arrest. However, this does happen, as every year thousands of hospital patients suffer a preventable cardiac arrest.
If this is something that has affected you or your family, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a solicitor to discuss whether you could be entitled to compensation.
Preventable cardiac arrests
While a patient is in hospital, their condition should be closely monitored to ensure the warnings signs of cardiac arrest are detected. The ways in which medical professionals should do this are detailed in NICE guidelines.
Published in 2007, the guidelines set out how to recognise and appropriately manage acutely unwell patients. With regards to preventing cardiac arrests, hospitals must plan each patient's care and, if there are signs of deterioration, advice from a senior doctor must be sought. Adequate treatment must then be provided.
If these guidelines were followed properly, a significant number of lives could be saved. Indeed, most in-hospital cardiac arrests are predictable and often follow a period of slow physical deterioration. This means care can be focused preventing a cardiac arrest before it occurs, maximising a patient's chance of recovery.
Claiming for a preventable cardiac arrest
But unfortunately hospital staff do not always pick up on warnings signs, do not act upon these warnings signs or do not communicate their concerns to a senior doctor. This means that patients are suffering cardiac arrests that could have been avoided had the right level of medical care been provided.
If you believe this has happened to you or your loved one, you will understandably be very angry about the treatment you received. Hospital patients expect to enter a healthcare environment and be treated appropriately. They do not expect indications of heart disease to be ignored, only to needlessly suffer a heart attack.
What action can you take?
To find out what action you can take, you need to speak to a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence. After a short discussion, a solicitor will be able to suggest whether or not you are in a position to make a claim against the NHS Trust accountable for your injuries. This will allow you to obtain compensation for the pain, suffering and financial loss you have incurred because of the hospital's negligent care.
For more information about making a medical negligence claim for an in-hospital cardiac arrest, be sure to speak to a solicitor without delay. Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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