How do I claim compensation from a hospital

hibees1875_2

pals are completely impartial. they are like an advocacy service. they take a neautral standpoint and try and offer people the best advice and support possible. they deal with people who want to complain on a regular basis and help them to formulate, structure...even write letters of complaint. they can advise the best way to go about things and who to complain to in the first instance. they can even handle the complaint on your behalf to take some of the pressure off. and if you need extra advice of a specialist nature, then invariably they can find and pass on info for this. PALS are there to help patients, their families, nhs staff both medical and nonmedical. they dont take sides or have any bias. they literally are there to just help.

clutton_2

what a shocking story - i do hope your brother is recovering now. I made a formal complaint against a hospital in the midlands wherein my mother died in 2000. It took them 6 months to send me her notes, and then included notes from other patients, and took me over 40 letters and 2 and a half years to get a meeting with the doctors and nurses who had failed her. PALS did not exists at that time - i wish it had.

but, at the end of a 4 hour meeting with 3 consultants, 2 nursing managers and an admin manager - i felt "heard". I also knew that some changes had been made, and that no-one else would suffer some of the things that my mother had.

However - i did not get the truth, but, i always knew that i would not get the truth of what had happened.

Going thru this long procedure also helped me come to terms with it. i suspect you are all very angry at what has happened, and rightly so, and a complaint may well help you with that also.

Very best wishes

moonrakerz

Whilst having every sympathy for the patient in this case, I have to ask why does everybody see any misfortune as a handy source of extra income ?

If the treatment received was negligent or even of a poor standard, by all means complain and kick up a fuss - but surely the objective should be to prevent it happening again NOT to screw money out of an already cash starved health system.

Medical diagnosis is not an exact science - why should medical staff not be allowed to make a mistake or "get it wrong". I presume the people who are hell bent on suing someone have never made a mistake - NEVER dropped a cup, NEVER pulled out of a side road in front of someone, NEVER mis-read the timetable and missed their train !

Can't people understand that the reason why hospitals are so secretive and reluctant to concede that a mistake was made is that they are worried about being sued - AGAIN.

The final point is, that money gained by suing your health authority actually comes out of YOUR own pocket, YOUR neighbour's pocket - I would far rather that money paid for an extra nurse or a couple of extra cleaners rather that line the pockets of a claims company and the person who instigated the claim.

Bossyboots

moonrakerz wrote:

Whilst having every sympathy for the patient in this case, I have to ask why does everybody see any misfortune as a handy source of extra income ?

If the treatment received was negligent or even of a poor standard, by all means complain and kick up a fuss - but surely the objective should be to prevent it happening again NOT to screw money out of an already cash starved health system.

Medical diagnosis is not an exact science - why should medical staff not be allowed to make a mistake or "get it wrong". I presume the people who are hell bent on suing someone have never made a mistake - NEVER dropped a cup, NEVER pulled out of a side road in front of someone, NEVER mis-read the timetable and missed their train !

Can't people understand that the reason why hospitals are so secretive and reluctant to concede that a mistake was made is that they are worried about being sued - AGAIN.

The final point is, that money gained by suing your health authority actually comes out of YOUR own pocket, YOUR neighbour's pocket - I would far rather that money paid for an extra nurse or a couple of extra cleaners rather that line the pockets of a claims company and the person who instigated the claim.

While you raise some valid points, there is no excuse for mistaking a burst appendix for trapped wind. The consequences of overlooking a burst appendix far outweigh the risks of an "unnecessary" operation. I have yet to know anyone die from making the mistake of dropping a cup, nor I am aware of anyone who has trained for years and years to learn how to hold one. I don't think it unreasonable to expect a doctor to be competent enough to make the correct diagnosis or take some action in the case mentioned here, long before it got to the stage it did.

MarkyMarkD

Human beings are fallible - that's a fact of life. Making financial claims against the NHS isn't going to change that.

A few years ago, I was misdiagnosed by an NHS triage nurse when I had a life-threatening illness, which was then correctly diagnosed by my GP 36 hours later leading to an emergency hospital admission. I didn't even think about claiming money from the NHS because it wouldn't make their staff any more competent - it would just take money away from patient care.

moonrakerz

Bossyboots wrote:

While you raise some valid points, there is no excuse for mistaking a burst appendix for trapped wind.

Are you a doctor ? Are you aware of all the facts around this case ? Had the doctor in question been on duty for 36 hours dealing with drunks, druggies and what ever else - because the hospital in question didn't have funds to employ another doctor ?

You say there is "no excuse for mistaking a burst appendix for trapped wind" without ANY justification for this statement. I daresay if you hunt around you WILL find people have been killed by dropping a cup (several people are recorded as being killed by their trousers each year in the UK) - again you make statements with no facts to back them up.
Many airliner accidents are caused by the pilots, you can't say they are not well trained - it is a simple fact that if airliners had no pilots, flying would be safer than it is now.

The bottom line is everybody makes mistakes, if you are in a job where a mistake is harmless, fine - but don't criticise people in jobs where mistakes can be calamitous - especially when you don't know the facts.
If there was nobody willing to take on these jobs you would be the first to complain.

funguy

I have read the above with great interest. As a qualified medic, i understand fully what you have experienced. However, i cant see any issue that was either negligent or worthy of compensation. What you are entitled to however, is an explanation of why each decision was taken at each step of the journey.
When someone presents with symptoms such as those listed, there are several conditions, some serious and others not so serious, that can be the cause. It is the clinical judgement of the medical team of what, IN THEIR OPINION, is the most likely AT THAT POINT IN TIME. It does not matter what it turns out to be in the end...no one can predict the future. It is what the most likely diagnosis was at that very point in time given investigation results and clinical judgement. Waiting times and theatre slots are outwith doctors/hospital control as thats a government funding issue.
Infection and pulmonary embolisms are recognised complications of any surgery...hence the restraint in operating an anyone and everyone with abdominal pain!! The MRSA issue is also overplayed...if you actually do some proper research, MRSA is an antibiotic resistant strain of a normal organism found on everyone's skin. It is not the fault of anyone that an infection occured..to reduce the risk of infection most patients are given preventitive antibiotics.
All in all, i am saying that doctors are not gods and you cannot expect to just pop into a hospital and have an immediate diagnosis and treatment without the risk of any complications afterwards!
Hope this clarifies a few of the issues and is not meant to critisize any of the above posts.
Kind Regards