First Questions to ask
The effect of concurrent complaints/ proceedings
If any complaint has already been referred to any of the following
- an investigation under the disciplinary procedure
- one of the professional regulatory bodies
- an independent inquiry into a serious incident under Section 84 of the National Health Service Act 1977
- an investigation of a criminal offence
then investigation of other aspects of the complaint will only be taken forward by the NHS Trust if they do not, or will not, compromise or prejudice the concurrent investigation. Trust complaints managers are required to seek advice on this before proceeding.
Clinical negligence cases
|
If a claimant has already, or at any point begins taking legal action against the Trust, pertaining to this complaint, then the complaints procedure stops – they cannot run concurrently, unless the complaint is about something not connected with the legal action. This also applies if the complainant expresses the intention to take legal action at some point. |
|
It is important to clarify the complainant’s intentions on this point. Legal action is about compensation: the NHS complaints procedure does not offer compensation. Complainants should use the NHS complaints procedure if their only, or main, goal is to obtain an explanation or an apology. Obtaining more information may help them decide that other action might be appropriate.
The complainant may be unsure about whether they want to pursue legal action or not. This should not prevent a full explanation being given and an apology offered to the complainant: an apology is not an admission of liability.
'Clinical negligence' is the legal term used to describe a medical accident where a patient has been harmed, not because of a complication that could not have been avoided, but because a doctor or other healthcare professional has not given the proper standard of care. It doesn’t always mean that this person was incompetent. It can just mean that in a particular case, they made a mistake that they shouldn’t have.
Clinical negligence includes things such as:
- making a mistake during surgery;
- giving you the wrong drug; or
- making the wrong diagnosis.
Clinical negligence can also include not doing things that should be done, such as:
- not giving you treatment you needed;
- not getting your consent (agreement) to treatment; or
- not warning you about the risks of a particular type of treatment.
Action against Medical Accidents AvMA (external link) |
Making Amends
An important review is currently underway in the NHS a review of the system of compensation for clinical negligence. In his report Making Amends (external link), The Chief Medical Officer,
Sir Liam Donaldson recommends the creation of a new NHS Redress Scheme to be used when NHS care and treatment goes wrong. It is proposed that a national organisation will administer the redress scheme which will offer remedial treatment, rehabilitation and care where needed; explanations and apologies and financial compensation where appropriate.
Coroner’s Cases
The fact that a death has been referred to the Coroner’s Office does not mean that allApril 18, 2006 the Coroner considers that it would compromise or prejudice their investigation.
Next: Where a complaint involves more than one NHS Trust |
