Personal injury solicitors Manchester are
very interested in legislative changes to the NHS. A large proportion of
personal injury claims relate to mistreatment in hospitals, and the severity of
claimants' injuries are frequently serious.
A recent report by Professor Don Berwick
echoed many of the thoughts no win no fee solicitors Manchester have about the
NHS. Professor Berwick worked intensively to discover some of the key issues in
the UK's healthcare system and how medical negligence claims arise,
investigating other healthcare systems internationally to inform his
understanding.
He made four key findings about the running
of hospitals and patient safety. These are:
Patient safety and the quality of patient care should
be of paramount importance
Employees should be supported in their personal
development, allowing them to improve their capabilities
Carers and patients should feel like they are heard
and should be empowered and engaged
Data should be completely transparent
Criminal
charges following clinical negligence compensation claims?
While clinical negligence compensation and
full investigations into what went wrong is enough for most patients, Professor
Berwick suggested that criminal sanctions may be suitable in some instances,
suggesting that a number of new offenses should be created that relate to
clinical negligence. These would deal with instances of wilful neglect or
recklessness, as well as cases in which healthcare organisations obstruct the
disclosure of relevant information or withhold this information, and could
apply to organisations as well as individuals.
The report stated that these criminal sanctions
should only be used rarely and should not be used to punish people for punitive
errors. While personal
injury solicitors Manchester may be apprehensive about the value of
creating new crimes, having potential criminal sanctions against hiding information
could help rightful claimants succeed in medical negligence claims. Individual
practitioners already face being struck off the register and forbidden to work
in the UK, but institutional negligence can frequently go unpunished.
Until healthcare systems become perfect,
people will always want to visit a no win no fee solicitor after being the
victim of medical negligence. Professor Berwick's suggestions could help to
reduce this demand, although it will be impossible to eradicate it.
How Could Hospitals Improve Treatment Standards?