3 ms·

I agree with you. This is the main reason we did not go down the malpractice route. It is far less common here in the UK than it seems to be in the US, but stil

I agree with you. This is the main reason we did not go down the malpractice route. It is far less common here in the UK than it seems to be in the US, but still fairly common. But as you said, everyone goes a bit insane. As it turned out, our doctor probably dodged a bullet because of the sheer chance that I got a second opinion and the fact that the hospital system worked flawlessly thereafter. If, god forbid, our son had not recovered, it would have been a different story, there would have been anger to vent and likely a court case.

DanBC 9y ago
The difference between the UK and the US is that UK healthcare professionals have a legal duty ("Duty of Candour") to tell you when they've made a mistake; what they're going to do to fix the mistake; and what they're going to do to prevent the mistake from happening again. This is enforced by all of the HCP registration bodies (GMC for doctors; NMC for registered nurses and midwives; HCPC for allied health professionals). It's also supported by the NHS Litigation authority (the body who'll pay out for negligence claims, or defend those in court), and various medical protection organisations (the legal organisations that represent HCPs in court cases). The MPTS (the tribunal service that holds hearings in fit-to-practice cases) also strongly recommends that HCPs apologise in full. In England and Wales we have a bit of law ("The Compensation Act") which means an apology outside a court for something that went wrong isn't an admission of liability, which makes it a bit easier for HCPs and their employers to apologise. I've collected a bit of information here: https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-saying-sorry-95701cfe9ea7 https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-s...

3 ms·

I agree with you. This is the main reason we did not go down the malpractice route. It is far less common here in the UK than it seems to be in the US, but stil

by 3chelon 9y ago

DanBC 9y ago
The difference between the UK and the US is that UK healthcare professionals have a legal duty ("Duty of Candour") to tell you when they've made a mistake; what they're going to do to fix the mistake; and what they're going to do to prevent the mistake from happening again. This is enforced by all of the HCP registration bodies (GMC for doctors; NMC for registered nurses and midwives; HCPC for allied health professionals). It's also supported by the NHS Litigation authority (the body who'll pay out for negligence claims, or defend those in court), and various medical protection organisations (the legal organisations that represent HCPs in court cases). The MPTS (the tribunal service that holds hearings in fit-to-practice cases) also strongly recommends that HCPs apologise in full. In England and Wales we have a bit of law ("The Compensation Act") which means an apology outside a court for something that went wrong isn't an admission of liability, which makes it a bit easier for HCPs and their employers to apologise. I've collected a bit of information here: https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-saying-sorry-95701cfe9ea7 https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-s...