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Mail & Guardian
26-05-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
NHS negligence: Should you sue or make a complaint?
The number of medical negligence cases continues to rise, notwithstanding attempts to reduce the long-standing burden on the National Health Service (NHS). Oxford University Hospitals, providing physical, mental health, and social care at the John Radcliffe, Horton General, and Churchill hospitals and the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre, paid out more than £30 million in compensation for medical negligence claims involving children, with death, brain damage, and cerebral palsy as some of the most common injuries and conditions. Delays in diagnosis, treatment, and surgery contribute to medical negligence, and patients suffer serious harm as a result. There is a stringent need for practical, evidence-based solutions to If you believe the NHS has wronged you, take steps to address the situation immediately, as it can impact your overall well-being and rights. It might be a good idea to consult with a legal professional. Prior to making a medical negligence claim, consider the NHS complaints procedure. After considering all the factors involved with each option, you can determine which one best fits your needs and brings you closer to achieving your goals. To Sue Or Not To Sue The NHS? Weigh The Pros And Cons The aim of tort law is to deter misconduct and compensate injury victims, providing a means of giving harmless vent to feelings of tension or stress. Unfortunately, the threat of tort doesn't deter medical injuries, though it has been proven effective, especially in the case of automobile liability and suppliers of alcohol. More often than not, healthcare providers fall short of the standard of reasonable care, and considerable damage results for the patient, whether physical, emotional, or financial. If you've been let down by an NHS professional, and their conduct caused you injury or made your existing condition worse, you can file a lawsuit in court. The potential benefits of filing a medical negligence claim are: You can claim financial compensation : You're eligible for economic damages, which are awarded as a form of compensation for financial expenses and losses resulting from the defendant's negligence. If you're keen to learn You can ensure what happened to you doesn't happen to someone else : The recovery phase can take weeks, months, or years, depending on the severity of the injuries. The decision to file a lawsuit is a big step. You can ensure others don't go through the same thing as you by holding the healthcare professional accountable. Patients have faith their doctors act responsibly, and they should be held accountable if they can't maintain the accepted standard of competence. The potential drawbacks of filing a medical negligence claim are: Litigation is complex and expensive : Determining a breach of duty and establishing causation requires obtaining relevant medical records and expert testimonies. You're looking at a hypothetical question of what would have happened if there hadn't been a violation of legal responsibility. Legal battles often come with a hefty price tag, but you can fund litigation via a no-win-no-fee agreement. The high-stress endeavor can take an emotional toll : You can't control the outcome of the lawsuit, which can create stress, typically associated with sleep disruption, impaired concentration, fatigue, and disorganized thinking. To complicate matters, claims resolution times can be frustratingly low. The decision to file a lawsuit comes down to the upside vs downside, so if you can recover more by filing a lawsuit, that is what you should do. If You're Not Happy With An NHS Service, Make A Complaint Medical staff are burned out, healthcare facilities are old and crumbling, and community health and well-being are worsening. After an incident, you should raise your concerns about it with the NHS; you can make notes about what you want to say so that you can refer back to what happened. You can submit a complaint regarding lack of information, failure to diagnose a condition, treatment or care, attitude of the staff, or poor communication. It's important to be specific about your expectations and remain realistic about your desired outcome. Do you want an explanation/apology regarding what happened to you? Or do you want an investigation to be carried out? The potential benefits of using the The NHS is less adversarial when dealing with complaints : Complaints can be made on the phone, by email, or in a letter. Any rivalry between the opposing parties is effectively reduced. You can speak in person to the Complaints Manager, who will make a written record of the legal document and give you a copy. It can lead to changes in practices to prevent similar incidents : Once your complaint has been investigated, you'll receive a response, which sets out the findings and includes information on what's being done. If you're unhappy with the response, you can request a resolution meeting or take your complaint to the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman. During the process of making a medical negligence claim, you have to go over what happened multiple times, which can be upsetting. Concluding Remarks The NHS is accountable for the medical negligence of its employees, including physicians, and must, therefore, deal with claims, supporting legal costs and damages that become payable. Delays in solving disputes cause further distress and increase costs. Even if you have a claim that the courts will recognize as a matter of law, make at least one effort to resolve the situation by negotiating a settlement or making a complaint. Weigh the pros and cons and seek legal advice to make the best decision.
Khaleej Times
08-04-2025
- Health
- Khaleej Times
First baby born in UK to woman with transplanted womb
A baby girl has become the first in the UK to be born from a womb transplant, after her aunt donated her uterus to her mother, a London hospital said Tuesday. Amy was born on February 27 at the Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in London, two years after her mum, Grace Davidson, received a womb transplant from her older sister. "We have been given the greatest gift we could ever have asked for," the new mum said. She added that she hoped "going forward this could become a wonderful reality, and provide an additional option, for women who would otherwise be unable to carry their own child". "The room was full of people who have helped us on the journey to actually having Amy," her father Angus Davidson told the Press Association news agency. "We had been kind of suppressing emotion, probably for 10 years, and you don't know how that's going to come out -—ugly crying it turns out," he added. Grace Davidson, 36, suffers from a rare condition known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome and was born without a functioning womb, the hospital said in a statement. She became the first woman in the UK to receive a womb transplant, which was donated by her sister Amy Purdie, 42, who has two daughters, aged 10 and six. The transplant was performed in February 2023 at the Oxford Transplant Centre, part of the Oxford University Hospitals foundation. Professor Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon who co-leads the UK living donor programme, said Amy's birth was the "culmination of over 25 years of research". More than 100 womb transplants have been carried out worldwide since the first ones in Sweden in 2013, and around 50 healthy babies have been born.
BBC News
05-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Former Oxford 'golden boy' transplant surgeon's suspension extended
A "golden boy" transplant surgeon found to have sexually harassed female colleagues has had his eight-month suspension extended to a Gilbert worked as a senior registrar in 2008 and 2009 for Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Trust and as a consultant between 2010 and 2022, when he was woman said his status was the "golden boy" of the department and that he was the "be-all and end-all for transplants in Oxford".A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel found Mr Gilbert sexually harassed four women but the General Medical Council (GMC) appealed the suspension's length at the High Court on Thursday. The GMC, supported by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), said the eight-month suspension was "insufficient to protect the public".Mr Justice Calver imposed a 12-month suspension, the longest possible, and said the MPTS's had erred twice at Mr Gilbert's tribunal in judge found the doctor imitating an Indian accent and telling a man "oh, when are you leaving the country now?", or words to that effect, and referring to Brexit was also found Mr Gilbert telling a colleague "look at all that fat, this is what happens when you eat chapatti" during an organ retrieval procedure constituted MPTS panel had previously found that those charges were not other claims, he reportedly said to one trainee while working in Oxford: "You're a well together girl, you must always wear matching underwear. What kind are you wearing now?"Another trainee was allegedly asked about matching underwear, and on one occasion he reportedly stared at her and said: "I have been watching you and you're pretty perfect." In May 2021, OUH excluded Mr Gilbert after concerns were raised but he was allowed to return six weeks later with restrictions on his email was then sent to surgical trainees inviting them to flag up concerns, leading to Mr Gilbert's dismissal in May Justice Calver said the 12-month suspension "reflects the seriousness" of Mr Gilbert's added it will also give Mr Gilbert "an adequate period to reflect upon and remediate his behaviour" but that it was "not suggested that Mr Gilbert was other than a highly competent surgeon".Mr Gilbert told the MPTS that the disciplinary process had been "humbling, humiliating and deeply shameful".He said he was a "different person and a fundamentally changed practitioner from the doctor whose conduct led to [the] complaints being raised" and apologised for his behaviour. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pope Francis rests in hospital as Vatican and Holy Year marches on without him
Pope Francis continued his recovery from double pneumonia on Saturday as the Vatican machinery and Holy Year celebrations marched on without him, this weekend dedicated to the Catholic Church's volunteers. Francis was continuing his respiratory and physical therapy after a quiet, restful night, the Vatican said. The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, entered his fourth week at Rome's Gemelli hospital with his condition stabilized following a few bouts of acute respiratory crises. In his absence, the Vatican's day-to-day operations continued, with Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrating Mass for a pro-life group in St. Peter's Basilica. At the start, Parolin delivered a message from the pope from the hospital on the need to protect life, from birth to natural death. In the message, dated March 5 and addressed to the Movement for Life, which seeks to provide women with alternatives to abortion, Francis encouraged the faithful to promote pro-life activities not just for the unborn, but 'for the elderly, no longer independent or the incurably ill.' Later Saturday, another cardinal closely associated with Francis' papacy, Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, presides over the nightly recitation of prayers for Francis. Czerny then returns on Sunday to celebrate the Holy Year Mass for volunteers that Francis was supposed to have celebrated. On Friday, Francis spent 20 minutes in the Gemelli hospital chapel, praying and doing some work in between rest and respiratory and physical therapy, the Vatican said. A medical update was expected later Saturday. Francis has been using high flows of supplemental oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night. Doctors not involved in his care said after three weeks of acute care in the hospital for double pneumonia, they would have hoped to have seen improvement. While he has stabilized, they warned that he was increasingly at risk of secondary infections the longer he remains hospitalized. Additionally, Francis had episodes of acute respiratory failure earlier this week and underwent bronchoscopies to suction mucus from his lungs. 'He's had respiratory failure and they were not able to liberate him from the hospital in the first three weeks. And therefore I think you'd say this does look concerning, perhaps more concerning than it did right at the beginning,' said Dr. Andrew Chadwick, a respiratory and intensive care specialist at Oxford University Hospitals in England. Dr. Jeffrey Millstein, a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said it wasn't shocking that Francis hadn't improved in three weeks, and that it was encouraging he was able to breathe part of the day with just a nasal tube of high-flow oxygen. But he said that the pope's condition certainly was 'a precarious, touch and go kind of situation' and that recovery, while still possible, would be a long process. Going forward, 'I just would be looking for no new setbacks,' he said. 'I think as long as he is dealing with the current issues and he's just making incremental progress, that would be great.' Francis was hospitalized Feb. 14 for what was then just a bad case of bronchitis. The infection progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of his 12-year papacy and raised questions about the future. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
The Hill
08-03-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Francis rests in hospital as Holy Year marches on without him, this weekend dedicated to volunteers
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis continued his recovery from double pneumonia on Saturday as the Vatican's Holy Year proceeded without him on a weekend dedicated to the Catholic Church's volunteers. 'The night passed quietly, the pope is resting,' said the Vatican's early morning update. The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, enters his fourth week at Rome's Gemelli hospital with his condition stabilized following a few bouts of acute respiratory crises. In his absence, the Vatican was going ahead with its Jubilee celebrations, the once-every-quarter-century Holy Year that is drawing pilgrims from around the world to Rome. This weekend, the Holy Year is celebrating volunteers, and many are extending their pilgrimage to pray for Francis outside the Gemelli hospital. On Sunday, one of the cardinals most closely associated with Francis' papacy, Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, presides over the Holy Year Mass for volunteers that Francis was supposed to have celebrated. On Friday, Francis spent 20 minutes in the Gemelli hospital chapel, praying and doing some work in between rest and respiratory and physical therapy, the Vatican said. A medical update was expected later Saturday. Francis has been using high flows of supplemental oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night. Doctors not involved in his care said after three weeks of acute care in the hospital for double pneumonia, they would have hoped to have seen improvement. While he has stabilized, they warned that he was increasingly at risk of secondary infections the longer he remains hospitalized. Additionally, Francis had episodes of acute respiratory failure earlier this week and underwent bronchoscopies to suction mucus from his lungs. 'He's had respiratory failure and they were not able to liberate him from the hospital in the first three weeks. And therefore I think you'd say this does look concerning, perhaps more concerning than it did right at the beginning,' said Dr. Andrew Chadwick, a respiratory and intensive care specialist at Oxford University Hospitals in England. Dr. Jeffrey Millstein, a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said it wasn't shocking that Francis hadn't improved in three weeks, and that it was encouraging he was able to breathe part of the day with just a nasal tube of high-flow oxygen. But he said that the pope's condition certainly was 'a precarious, touch and go kind of situation' and that recovery, while still possible, would be a long process. Going forward, 'I just would be looking for no new setbacks,' he said. 'I think as long as he is dealing with the current issues and he's just making incremental progress, that would be great.' Francis was hospitalized Feb. 14 for what was then just a bad case of bronchitis. The infection progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of his 12-year papacy and raised questions about the future. ___
