Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The process of Medical Negligence Compensation Claims

by Alex Sash


Medical negligence arises when the care provided by a health professional falls below what is regarded as an acceptable standard and causes an injury. To successfully prosecute a clinical negligence claim it is therefore necessary for a Claimant to prove firstly that a mistake has been made, and secondly the full extent of the consequences of that mistake.

Within the National Health Service, NHS Trusts have legal responsibility for errors made by employees of the Trust. General Practitioners are legally responsible for their own actions. Hospital doctors and GPs, however, owe patients the same duty of care.

The legal concept of medical negligence is a fairly recent development with the first ever UK case in 1932.

In 1995 the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) was created to investigate, and if appropriate, defend clinical negligence claims, or settle them when they arise out of hospital treatment. Claims against GPs are, however, dealt with by a number of medical defence organisations that function rather like insurers.

In 2003 a review of medical negligence procedures was undertaken which arrived at a number of unsatisfactory conclusions. Generally cases take too long to resolve and are expensive to investigate, and the NHS has been accused of dragging its feet and failing to deal with compensation claims fairly and swiftly.

Undertaking clinical negligence claims involves a very high level of skill and experience to overcome the difficulties that may be encountered. The MyClaim team includes lawyers with medical and legal qualifications and importantly considerable experience of investigating clinical negligence claims for the NHS. This detailed knowledge of how the NHS works and how it arrives at settlement decisions is essential in ensuring a satisfactory outcome.

Medical Negligence Statistics:

* More than 95% of medical negligence cases are settled out of court.

* 5% of the general population report suffering injury or other adverse effects of medical care.

* Annual NHS clinical negligence expenditure was just £1 million in 1974-75 (£6.33 million at 2002 prices). This figure rose to £446 million in 2001-02 and is continuously growing.

* The NHSLA dealt with nearly 7,000 claims for clinical and medical negligence in 2002/2003, just under 7% relating to episodes of care that took place prior to 1995!

(Source: Department of Health, 'Making Amends - Clinical Negligence Reform', 2003)

If you are looking for more information about Medical Negligence Compensation Claims please visit www.mycompensationclaim.co.uk. MyClaim also offers expert advice for Brain, Head and Whiplash Injury Claims and much more.

Original source: Politics.co.uk (http://www.politics.co.uk/issuebrief/health/nhs/medical-negligence-and-compensation/medical-negligence-and-compensation-$366559.htm)


About the Author
Freelance writer for Travel, Business, IT, Retails and much more.

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The process of Medical Negligence Compensation Claims

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Five Things Your Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Will Tell You

by Steve Smith


If you've had some kind of slip and fall accident in Boston, person injury lawyers can certainly help you get the damages you deserve. But these kinds of accidents, whether you've slipped in a restaurant, fallen on a damaged sidewalk or taken a tumble down some rickety stairs, can be difficult to prove unless you have solid evidence.

That's why we've put together some information from some of the best Boston personal injury attorneys available that you should keep in mind any time you are injured and know that you may have to try and collect damages or medical expenses from an individual or company. Any time you are injured, keep these steps in mind to help your attorney get the best possible outcome for you.

1. Notify the proper people. Any time you are injured you need to make sure you've notified the proper person, whether it is the manager of an establishment or the owner of a house or property. If it is a business, ask them to assist you in filling out an incident report. In most cases they will be willing to do this for their own protection as well as yours. Be sure it includes information on what happened, the conditions that contributed (a wet floor without a sign, loose floorboards, ice, etc.) and what might be wrong with you - but note that you are seeking medical treatment.

2. Seek medical treatment immediately. Every Boston personal injury attorney worth his or her salt will tell you that there are two reasons to go immediately to a medical center, doctor's office or emergency room. The first and most important is to make sure you haven't sustained a hidden injury - your health is always the most important issue. Second, the medical records will be essential if you do end up filing a claim because they will indicate the extent of your injuries and their connection to the incident.

3. Get witness information. Obviously if you are seriously injured your first priority should be to get medical attention, but if someone is with you ask them to talk to anyone who saw what happened or who came to your aid. Get their names, addresses and phone numbers. These people will be an invaluable witness to what transpired and will reinforce your case in the event the other party disputes liability.

4. Get photographs. In today's era of cell phone cameras it's a simple thing to snap a quick picture of the area where you slipped and fell if it is something the other party can easily remedy (spilled water, etc.). Your Boston personal injury lawyer will tell you that a series (3-5) of photos of the area on a digital camera will be even better if you have a trusted family member who can return quickly to the site for situations like dangerous pavement, etc. that can't be easily disguised or fixed.

5. Contact an attorney right away. The longer you wait, the hazier your memory (and the memory of witnesses) of the events will be, making a claim more difficult. In Boston, personal injury lawyers often have phone numbers that answer twenty-four hours a day or they will return messages within that time.

In a perfect world, you will never have to file a claim against someone because you are injured. It isn't a perfect world, and an injury can be costly both financially and emotionally. Be careful, be aware and be sure to get a Boston personal injury attorney to help you get everything you deserve.


About the Author
Steve Smith is a freelance writer. For instance, if you reside in Boston, you will want to get in touch with a personal injury attorney . You might also consider hiring a lawyer if your case has to go through an appeals process. Again, if you live in Boston, you should be talking to personal injury attorney throughout the claim process.

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Five Things Your Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Will Tell You

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Friday, June 08, 2007

Hospitals and Patient Safety

by Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter


Nearly 200,000 people die from medical errors occurring in hospitals every year. When errors are discovered, the "blame game" begins, and it can be very difficult to determine who is truly responsible. Often, these errors are the result of a combination of factors, which are controlled by the hospital itself. Until hospital boards start treating patient safety with the same, or higher, priority as hospital finances, these errors and the deaths and injuries will continue to spiral out of control.

Obviously doctors are responsible for their patients' safety, but individual doctors cannot control hospital conditions. At some point the line is drawn between physician responsibility and responsibility of the hospital itself. Hospitals are responsible for many things which are out of individual doctors' control including:

· Availability of staff
· Adequate and safe facilities
· Adequate equipment
· Competency and training of staff
· Admitting procedures
· Records control
· Sterilization and sanitation practices
· Administration of medications
· Patient monitoring
· Security
· Adequate emergency personnel
· Adequate overall care policies

Hospitalized patients have certain basic rights. Although the "right to basic safety" is implied, and is obviously presumed by patients to exist, it has yet to be expressly stated as such. Specific patient rights include:

· Informed consent
· Right to refuse treatment
· Privacy and confidentiality
· Emergency treatment
· To be treated with dignity

In an effort to improve patient safety in hospitals, The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has launch the 5 Million Lives Campaign challenging American hospitals to adopt the following 12 interventions:

· Deploy Rapid Response Teams at the first sign of patient decline
· Deliver Reliable, Evidence-Based Care for Acute Myocardial Infarction to prevent deaths from heart attack
· Prevent Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) by implementing medication reconciliation

· Prevent Central Line Infections by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps
· Prevent Surgical Site Infections by reliably delivering the correct perioperative antibiotics at the proper time
· Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia by implementing a series of interdependent, scientifically grounded steps
· Prevent Harm from High-Alert Medications starting with a focus on anticoagulants, sedatives, narcotics, and insulin
· Reduce Surgical Complications by reliably implementing all of the changes in care recommended by SCIP, the Surgical Care Improvement Project
· Prevent Pressure Ulcers by reliably using science-based guidelines for their prevention
· Reduce Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection by reliably implementing scientifically proven infection control practices
· Deliver Reliable, Evidence-Based Care for Congestive Heart Failure to avoid readmissions
· Get Boards on Board by defining and spreading the best-known leveraged processes for hospital Boards of Directors, so that they can become far more effective in accelerating organizational progress toward safe care

As more and more hospitals adopt these interventions they become established as the standard of care and hospitals, which refuse to abide by them, may be held liable for negligence.

At this time the only means of enforcing patient safety standards is through malpractice lawsuits brought by patients against hospitals. In order to effectively pursue these cases patients and their attorneys must be able to differentiate between physician and hospital responsibilities. Even in cases that involve individual physician malpractice may be the responsibility of the hospital, which has hired the physician.

Determining who committed and who is responsible for error can be a very complicated process and requires the expertise of an attorney or law firm with extensive hospital malpractice experience. In Orlando, Florida the law firm with that experience is Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter. They have successfully represented numerous victims of hospital and medical malpractice and have the experience and resources to handle even the most complex cases.


About the Author
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed by malpractice in a hospital setting, please email or call Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter to speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney today.

Hospitals and Patient Safety

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