Grounds to sue NHS?

kazzah60

sandy_smith wrote: »

The NHS pay out of their own pocket for negligence claims. To suggest this money does not come from the system is disingenuous. We all end up footing the bill for such claims. Nevertheless, if someone suffers financially from medical negligence why shouldn't they claim.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/nhs/10569745/Multi-billion-pound-NHS-compensation-bill-must-be-slashed.html

I think you are mis-interpreting this information -this states that funds have been SET ASIDE - NOT that it comes from NHS resources - as previously stated ALL claims against the NHS are overseen and settled by the NHS Litigation Authority - these fudns are made up of premiums paid to the NHSLA For the purpose of settling claims - the fewer incidents of negligence practice proven against each trust - the LOWER their premium - this has the add on effect of making NHS staff more accountable for their practices in order to lower premiums- a win win situation for all involved - these funds would NOT otherwise be used for NHS treatments OR services - I have cut and paste information from the NHS Litigation Authority website and would draw your attention to the last part of the quote about providing claims COVER very competitively.

Resolving Claims
We manage clinical and non-clinical claims against the NHS on behalf of our members.

We settle justified claims fairly and quickly by investigating as soon as possible.
Once we have the information and evidence we need about the case, we make an informed decision about its merits. If a liability exists then we proceed to quantify and resolve the claim, usually by negotiation.
We defend unjustified claims robustly, helping to protect our members’ and NHS resources.
We seek expert evidence where appropriate to ensure we have a strong platform from which we can repudiate unjustified claims.
We issue a full, reasoned response to formal letters of claim.
We manage risk pools for all NHS organisations in England, spreading the cost of claims over time.
As well as being very cost effective, risk pooling provides a huge database that enables us to analyse trends and share information about risks with our members.
As a not-for-profit part of the NHS, we provide claims cover very competitively.
We are aiming to provide indemnity cover directly to independent providers of NHS care from April 2013.

confuseddaughter_2

So who pays the premiums? The NHS??
In so doing it is removing money that would be available for the benefit of all patients.


Are you then suggesting that there are two separate bodies here?


The NHS Trust that in my sister's case offered an unreserved apology and admitted negligence and another body (presumably part of the NHS) quoted above as that "We settle justified claims fairly and quickly by investigating as soon as possible.
Once we have the information and evidence we need about the case, we make an informed decision about its merits. If a liability exists then we proceed to quantify and resolve the claim, usually by negotiation."
carries out another investigation to establish fault and liability?


This seems strange to me unless the NHS hope to have two bites at the same cherry. Surely if the Trust admitted that they were at fault an offer of financial settlement would be offered automatically. Whether the patient involved wanted to take up that offer is up to them.

keefyboy_2

In 2001 I had a hernia, which was diagnosed by my Dr and referred to a consultant at the hospital, the appt came through for him approx 5 months later on. Well i could not work or do anything except wait. The Saturday before my appt the hernia was now the size of a small football hanging out of me and the pain was so intense that I collapsed on several occasions, my wife had seen enough and took me to the hospital A&E, there I was seen and they decided I need surgery straight away as it seemed the hernia had twisted. Then the problems started, I have a blood disorder where the platelets can clump, in other words it will either stop bleeding very quickly or keep bleeding badly, there is a warning of this on the front of my notes. They took me to a ward and said we will operate first thing in the morning, morning came NOTHING, so I asked what was going on and was told they would operate later that day. Still nothing happened so then I was told, sorry you will be operated on tomorrow (Monday) morning first thing, all day nothing happened, so at about 5pm I demanded to see the Dr, he said they were still deciding what to do because of my blood problems, so it was put off to Tuesday morning, still nothing happened so again once again asked to see Dr, again told same problem about Platelets, so I suggested to them a platelets transfusion before and during the operation, they agreed to this and told me it was all sheduled for Wednesday morning. Wednesday came Platelet transfusion started, but some had not bothered to defrost them first and I was so old they finished up covering me in 9 blankets...... then we were told surgery had been delay due to an operation taking longer than expected but should only delay it by an hour, ok fine I thought, then Nothing, at 5pm I asked when i was going down and was told sorry wont be done until tomorrow now, reason = worried about platelet problem again, I would be done first thing Thursday morning, (wonder how many times i have heard that before) anyway I demanded to see Dr and he finally came at 1145pm and we had a meeting in the day room, me my wife Dr and ward sister present and another Dr who would assist. Eventually at 1.30am they said I was going down at 8.30am for surgery, so my wife went home and I went back to bed, 15 mins later nurse came and gave me an injection I asked why and she replied "pre med" injection, the next thing i am all drowsy and I am being taken to surgery time now 155am, anyway they operated and when I came to back in the ward I knew something was wrong, i had seen men coming and going same day after having hernia ops and I could not even stand up let alone walk. The consultant came at 0830am and said I could go home, he didn't even look at the incision or anything
They rang my wife and she came and picked me up and took me home. All this time I was still in severe pain and could not even stand up, so after 7 days of this i rang the consultants secretary and arranged to see him privately at a cost of £125. Saw him and he, smiling said, sorry they sewed your nerves into the net and there is nothing that can be done about it, you will never be able to work again...... I was gobsmacked, so went to see solicitor, he started proceedings and to cut a long story short, the hospital had managed to lose my notes for a 2 yr period covering all referrals everything, they even denied I had been there, after 9 months I had to give up, we were no further than day one and i had run out of money and could not afford my solicitor anymore. They had even had notes at my Gp's surgery removed and "lost". This has caused me even bigger problems as during that 2 yrs period i had 2 massive heart attacks and now no one knows what drugs i was given or anything, all the heart scans everything was gone. This is my story about trying to sue the NHS, people do say oh that can't happen now, oh yes it can, my daughter started training as a nurse and had to spend a week in the "Files dept" three times during that week someone pulled the noted of a patient out and papers fell out and instead of picking them up they kicked them into a corner and said, another lot for the cleaner to put in the bin for confidential waste to be disposed of......... and this was only 2 yrs ago........ so be warned if you want to do battle with them make sure you have everything because they will deny everything for years before giving in, its a way to try and make you drop the case, and with me it worked after spending out over £9K......

kazzah60

confuseddaughter wrote: »

So who pays the premiums? The NHS??
In so doing it is removing money that would be available for the benefit of all patients.


Are you then suggesting that there are two separate bodies here?


The NHS Trust that in my sister's case offered an unreserved apology and admitted negligence and another body (presumably part of the NHS) quoted above as that "We settle justified claims fairly and quickly by investigating as soon as possible.
Once we have the information and evidence we need about the case, we make an informed decision about its merits. If a liability exists then we proceed to quantify and resolve the claim, usually by negotiation."
carries out another investigation to establish fault and liability?


This seems strange to me unless the NHS hope to have two bites at the same cherry. Surely if the Trust admitted that they were at fault an offer of financial settlement would be offered automatically. Whether the patient involved wanted to take up that offer is up to them.

the NHSLA - is an entirely different body to the NHS as a whole - a trust can admit wrongdoing and apologise for substandard care following a complaint however the NHSLA ONLY gets involved if the patient decides to pursue litigation - and they then look at the care given etc and negotiate a settlement with the claimant
( patient)
However - an NHS trust is unlikely to thoroughly investigate any allegation of wrongdoing AND admit liability without a claim being made - an investigation may be undertaken into an adverse event- but the complainant is unlikely to be informed of any measures put in place nor any action taken against staff and in fact may not even find out the whole truth of the matter until they start legal proceedings

[Deleted User]

keefyboy wrote: »

he said they were still deciding what to do because of my blood problems,

On one of my visits I heard the doctor on the phone telling someone she didn't know what to do with me, she then asked me what they'd done the previous time. I told her they'd given me a betablocker then, so she gave a me a betablocker, but I wasn't on meds previously.

Next time I was in they'd done nothing after several hours, so I asked why I hadn't had a betablocker and was told they're not safe on top of my existing meds. Then ten minutes later they gave me a betablocker again. :huh:

keefyboy wrote: »

so be warned if you want to do battle with them make sure you have everything because they will deny everything

As I mentioned above, I'm already familiar with their lies, and I did rather anticipate that any complaint would promptly get the shredder working overtime.