Report suggests thousands of NHS patients are dying ‘because staff are too afraid to admit mistakes’

According to a report, around 11,000 patients die every year due to doctors’ mistakes, with the elderly being the worst affected.

NHS leaders say the health service isn’t learning from these mistakes due to a blame culture among staff and fear of losing their jobs; health workers have been accused of closing ranks, with fatal errors being swept under the carpet.

A new plan is to be revealed by NHS Improvement, whereby every hospital will employ a dedicated expert to whom staff can turn when something goes wrong without fear of repercussions. Staff will also receive updated training to take action of they witness something which looks risky, and all hospital workers will be taught how to respond in patient safety incidents.

Dr Aiden Fowler, director of patient safety at NHS Improvement, said “The NHS has tough protections to deal with deliberate wrongdoing by staff, but in the vast majority of cases, it is either honest mistakes or problems with systems that are at fault.

“We need to help NHS staff to speak up when they see things go wrong.

“This is crucial to improving patient safety over the next decade and will ensure that the right lessons are learnt, and errors minimised.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events. Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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