Duty of Candour and Medical Negligence
Moderate or severe harm, caused by a medical failing in care or treatment may affect the patient for life and justify a claim for compensation.
Duty of Candour
Providers of medical and social care who are registered with the Care Quality Commission in England are legally obliged to inform patients if a 'notifiable safety incident' has occurred.
This is described as the Duty of Candour and applies to all organisations such as hospitals who are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
A 'notifiable safety incident' means any 'unintended or unexpected incident' that appears to have resulted in significant harm to the patient or service user. This might be a fatal incident or it may be an incident which results in a functional loss, such as sight loss, or has caused pain or prolonged psychological harm or a reduction in life expectancy.
The service user should provide a full account of what has happened, offer an apology and advise the patient as to what 'further enquiries into the incident the registered person believes are appropriate.'
The impact of medical negligence
The long-term effect of 'severe harm, moderate harm or prolonged psychological harm' on the patient has the potential to bring about severe, debilitating and life-changing problems.
The patient may find that their quality of life suffers in a variety of ways:
- It may be hard to maintain employment, meaning that their income could be reduced dramatically
- They may find it difficult to function normally in a two-story home and require either significant adaptations to their home or to move to single-storey accommodation
- They may struggle to undertake day-to-day tasks independently and require a degree of support
- Their personal relations hips may suffer
Claiming compensation
A successful compensation claim can provide recompense to the patient for their pain, suffering and financial losses associated with the effects of the negligence.
For many of our clients, it is also recognition of the fact that their care was inadequate or negligent in some way and that a sense of justice has been achieved.
Speak to a solicitor
If you or a loved one are struggling with the on-going impact of medical negligence, contact Glynns Solicitors today to talk to a specialist medical negligence solicitor.
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