New Regulations May Lead to Hospital Cover Ups

The Charity Action Against Medical Accidents (AVMA) have expressed grave concerns about the new Care Quality Commission Regulations. 

Although the Regulations make it a statutory duty for health care providers to report incidents of patient harm to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), there is no such burden placed on them to be open with patients or their next of kin when things go wrong.

AVMA Chief Executive Peter Walsh said “This is nothing short of a national disgrace.  We are not saying the intention was to legitimise cover ups but that is the danger. A hospital can now be heavily fined or closed down for not sending data to the NPSA, but it is under no statutory duty to be open with patients.  That sends completely the wrong message”. AVMA have now published its report ‘The Need for a Statutory Duty of Candour’.

The report argues that recent scandals such as that of Stafford Hospital underline the need to tackle the culture of cover up and denial and rebuild public confidence.

They also point to the fact that there are estimated to be over 1 million patient safety incidents in English hospitals alone each year, 50% of which are estimated to cause avoidable harm.

AVMA suggest that the existing regulations should be re-drafted to ensure that patients or their next of kin are fully informed of any incident which is suspected of having caused harm and that staff are provided with training and support in respect of reporting incidents.

Gregory Abrams Davidson Solicitors specialise in obtaining compensation for client’s who have sustained injury as a result of Clinical Negligence. We have many years of experience dealing with claims against hospitals (both NHS and Private), dentists and general practitioners. Examples include claims arising as a result of negligently performed operations, misdiagnosis of cancer, injuries arising as a result of negligently performed cosmetic surgery and injuries sustained at birth.

We have offices in Liverpool City Centre and Allerton.If you would like to enquire about a potential Clinical Negligence claim, contact a member of our Team on 0151 733 3353. Calls can be taken 24 hours a day or e-mail us at [email protected]