News archive
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Collaboration on Covid clinical negligence claims reaps rewards
January 24, 2023The collaborative approach taken by NHS Resolution, Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) and the Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL) in designing and operating the Covid 19 Clinical Negligence Claims Protocol has significantly reduced the volume of clinical negligence claims that have become litigated and created savings benefiting the NHS and patients.
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An explanation about a medical accident, and the lack of an apology, made up 45% of inquiries to AvMA in 2022
January 23, 2023In 2022 AvMA received 419 written requests for advice and assistance from UK patients. In 45% of those cases, the inquiry was about the lack of an explanation when a medical accident had occurred and how to secure an investigation and an apology.
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Unanimous support for funding of independent advice & advocacy
November 28, 2022A summit of key stakeholders in healthcare in England today welcomed a new report on the need for independent advice and advocacy for people affected by avoidable harm in healthcare and called for it to be addressed. The was convened by the Harmed Patients Alliance who published the report “Signpost to Nowhere?”. The report sets out the fact that no funding is made available at all in England to ensure that patients or families affected by harm in NHS care can access independent advice and advocacy.
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AvMA Reaction to East Kent Maternity report
October 20, 2022Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) welcome the report of the inquiry led by Dr Bill Kirkup but expressed strong concerns about the state of England’s maternity services and renewed calls for urgent action to address concerns about safety. Read full story>
AvMA chief executive Peter Walsh said:
“The report is vindication for those women and families who suffered avoidable harm and whose concerns were initially ignored. We had the privilege of providing some advice and support to Derek Richford, whose grandson Harry died avoidably at East Kent and who was a large reason for this inquiry coming about. The report is clear and pulls no punches, as you would expect from Bill Kirkup. However, we are seeing the same themes as we saw at Shrewsbury and Telford and Morecambe Bay before that. Currently there is an investigation into grave problems at Nottingham’s maternity services, led by Donna Ockenden. 38% of maternity services in England are rated inadequate or requiring improvement, and the number of clinical negligence claims about maternity service has gone up by 20%.
The trail of lost or ruined lives is getting longer and longer, and yet in spite of report after report making damning conclusions and urgent recommendations, not enough is being done to improve safety. In my opinion, what urgently needs to happen is recruiting and retaining enough midwives and doctors, improving training, and changing the culture in maternity services. There is still a sense of tribalism between the professions, and a reluctance to always put safety first – even before mantras like ‘natural birth’.”
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Doctors and patients speak with one voice to mark World Patient Safety Day
September 16, 2022The Doctors Association UK and the patients’ charity Action against Medical Accidents have agreed the following joint statement and call for action to coincide with World Patient Safety Day
(17th September 2022).
Dr Jenny Vaughan (‘Learn Not Blame’ Lead for Doctors Association UK) and Peter Walsh (Chief Executive of Action against Medical Accidents) said:
“There are hundreds of thousands of incidents resulting in avoidable harm and deaths to patients in the NHS every year. Whilst there will always be some things that go wrong in such a vast, complex and risky activity as healthcare, this is far too many. There is no one ‘golden bullet’ solution, but we, as representatives of doctors and patients, are calling on the Government and the NHS to address two key issues as a matter of urgency.
1. Sufficient resources need to be allocated to the NHS. Too many NHS settings are understaffed and there are shortages of key personnel. Add poor morale into the mix and this is a disaster waiting to happen. No doctor (or other health professional) should be in a position where they have to work unreasonable hours or in such stressful, under-staffed and unsafe environments. It is not fair to doctors, and it is not fair to patients. It is also a false economy, as it leads to avoidable harm and deaths and all the human and financial collateral damage that follows.
2. A genuinely ‘Just Culture’ needs to be developed and supported across the whole health and social care system including the respective UK departments of health and social care and regulators. Such a culture needs to apply equally to all health professionals and to patients and their families.
We both support the principles of ‘Learn Not Blame’ published by the Doctors Association UK. Doctors (or other health professionals) should not be blamed or ‘hung out to dry’ for system failures. There needs to be full corporate responsibility allowing the circumstances which bring these failures about. Health staff should be supported through the trauma of having been involved in an incident that led to harm. Rarely, there should also be individual accountability when a health professional is intentionally reckless or unable to perform their duties safely. Consequences must be fair and proportionate.
We both support the principles of ‘What Just Culture should look like’ published by Action against Medical Accidents. The NHS has a moral duty of care to patients who have been harmed or their families. Provision must be made to provide different kinds of support for harmed patients or their families as described in the ‘Harmed Patient Care Pathway’. Patients/families have a right to know the truth and be assured that lessons will not only be learnt but acted upon. Legal redress is a recognised part of this process. It can be an important safety net when matters can not be resolved in less adversarial ways. Diminishing access to justice for people affected by healthcare harm or a doctor’s right to defend themselves from allegations they consider invalid is unacceptable in a ‘just culture’.
Just culture should apply from top to bottom of the health and social care system. This means national as well as local health and social care policy and practise having to be in accordance with just culture principles.
On behalf of both doctors and patients we call on UK governments and the NHS to address these issues as a matter of urgency.”