What do you know about Clinical Negligence? 

What is Clinical Negligence?  

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Clinical Negligence occurs when a doctor or a health care professional is negligent in providing an accurate medical treatment or failing to diagnose a condition which later leads to medical consequences. Many clinical negligence claims are financially compensated if they are proven to be true. Clinical Negligence is interesting as some may say that the claims can be challenging at times due to their complexity. Nevertheless, it can also be rewarding as they allow people to seek justice for mistakes that have arisen from a medical professional’s recklessness or negligence. In a clinical negligence claim, the individual can hold many different types of medical professionals accountable for the negligence caused, ranging from doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists, and even cosmetic surgeons.  

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Current claim system to be revolutionised?  

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An interesting article I read on clinical negligence entitled, “Government proposes fixed costs for clinical negligence claims”, was published on the Law Society Gazette website. This article states that the health department proposed a “streamlined process for most clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000”. Through this new process, it ensures that the claimants will be able to resolve cases at lower and more proportionate costs than under the current system. This entails that the current system is not fair and balanced. Furthermore, the article goes on to explain that ever since Sir Rupert Jackson recommended the change in 2017, fixed recoverable costs is something they were looking to apply to clinical negligence claims as it is already in place for personal injury claims. The consultation of these proposals will close on the 24th of April 2022.  

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My opinion on Clinical Negligence

Clinical Negligence claims are interesting because claims can range from minor to huge reasons. For instance, the doctor forgetting to remove their jewellery before performing surgery. Situations like these cause accidents and the severity of the consequences depend on the medical procedure itself. At other times, the doctor’s negligence could be seen as correct if it is in accordance with other medical doctors and the medical organisation’s point of view, knowledge and expertise. 

Overall, clinical negligence is a very compelling topic and if you are interested as well, I would strongly recommend books on clinical negligence. A great novel on clinical negligence is “Bringing Back Eight: A Novel about Medical Malpractice on Trial”. It is written from the perspective of a doctor who was not sued for failing to diagnose a patient’s infection, which later led to paralysis on the patient. The author himself is a physician at Rhode Island Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.  

As with many other legal-social affairs, clinical negligence is a complex yet interesting topic to dive into. I look forward to the revolutionised system which will ensure a fair and balanced ground for claimants.  

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Written by Sharon Rose Sooriyakumar  

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