100,000 People A Month ‘Put At Risk By Medical Errors’

Published: 17th November 2013

More than 100,000 patients are put at risk of harm by mistakes in their treatment each month in England and Wales, according to official statistics.

Clinical negligence is a growing problem and it was recently revealed that the NHS has set aside £17.5 billion to settle future legal claims related to medical errors.

The financial element is just part of the issue and a new study by NHS England hints at the human cost of the mistakes.
Its figures show that between October 2012 and March 2013, 683,883 patients either suffered harm or were put at risk by medical blunders, reports the Sunday Express.

Of those cases, 1,834 patients died, 3,479 suffered severe injury and more than 40,000 suffered a non-permanent injury.

Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England’s national director of patient safety, said the chance of coming to any harm while being treated by the health service was “very small”, but added that clinicians were determined to improve patient safety.

However, Peter Walsh, chief executive of clinical negligence charity Action against Medical Accidents, was unhappy with that response.

He said: “We should be looking towards zero tolerance. Errors will always happen but the number of mistakes, particularly avoidable ones is far too high.”

If you or a member of your family is unfortunate enough to suffer an injury while being treated by the NHS or a private healthcare provider, you may be entitled to make a clinical negligence claim.

In the most serious cases, such as birth injuries, brain damage or paralysis, damages and care costs can total millions of pounds, but it is a complex area of law and claims can take years to settle.

As one of the leading clinical negligence claims firms in Yorkshire, Liddy’s Solicitors has extensive experience of successfully handling this type of high-value work. Director Kevin Liddy has managed a number of child brain injury claims and overseen cases in which damages of more than £2 million were awarded.

At Liddy’s Solicitors, we realise how difficult the legal system can be for claimants’ families, particularly when they already have to deal with stressful circumstances brought about by clinical negligence. That’s why we offer a personal service designed to ensure you understand the claim process, are kept informed of all developments and receive the best possible advice about how to proceed.

We can help you to recover damages for any injuries resulting from medical negligence and for loss of earnings, along with money to fund long-term care. We can also help to organise private ongoing or rehabilitative treatment and to recover the costs involved.

Clinical negligence claims are not restricted to incidents involving life-changing injuries. Surgical errors, misdiagnosis, missed fractures, the prescription of the wrong medicines and hospital-acquired infections may also form the basis for a claim.

To discuss a possible clinical negligence claim, call us now on (Wakefield) 01924 780753 or (Barnsley) 01226 731314 or email us on info@liddys-solicitors.co.uk.