Medical Malpractice in England and Wales - A Postcard from the Edge

1996 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Michael A. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Malpractice Litigation ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
The Cost

AbstractIt has long been claimed that the risk of litigation influences the way some health care professionals approach their work, in the form of 'defensive practices' adopted by individuals. As medical malpractice litigation continues to escalate, the cost of claims is now beginning to have an impact upon the NHS in terms of the handling of claims and the development of more comprehensive risk management policies. It is extremely difficult to assess whether malpractice litigation is bad for health care, by inducing wasteful and potentially risky defensive medicine, or good for health care by deterring substandard provision. The attitude of the English courts is generally supportive of the medical profession and the National Health Service, who are seen as being hard-pressed by a phenomenon that could easily spiral out of control. This is reflected in an extremely cautious approach to finding medical professionals liable for negligence. But, despite the judicial hesitance, claims rates are continuing to rise.

Why Patients Sue Doctors: The Japanese Experience

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A. Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
Japanese Patients ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Malpractice Litigation ◽  
Care Experience ◽  
Cost Of Health Care ◽  
American Legal System ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The U.S

The cost of health care, its growing share of the gross domestic product (GDP), and dire predictions about the future are a major political and economic issue in the U.S. The American legal system is commonly viewed as a significant part of the problem, particularly by those who believe that medical providers engage in defensive medicine in an effort to avoid malpractice litigation. Yet scholars and commentators in the U.S. have shown relatively little interest in how other nations manage legal conflict over health care and whether they might learn something from abroad about the relationship between malpractice litigation and the health care system more generally.To that end, this article analyzes the Japanese health care experience, specifically the management of what are variously called adverse outcomes, medical accidents, and medical malpractice. How frequently do Japanese patients sue their doctors? Are medical malpractice litigation rates in Japan rising? If so, what is being done to control the increase and its impact on medical care? How well is Japan doing when it comes to balancing the needs of patients who believe they are victims of medical negligence with those of providers who think they are being unfairly accused? These are the questions, about Japan (and elsewhere), that need to be asked by those interested in the nexus of law and health care in the U.S.

Generic Prescribing, Generic Substitution, and Therapeutic Substitution

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 835-835
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Generic Substitution ◽  
Drug Product ◽  
Therapeutic Substitution ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Therapeutic Category ◽  
Generic Prescribing ◽  
The Cost

Pressures generated by a constellation of professional consumer, legislative, and health care provider vider groups in this era of increasing health care costs have led to enactment of generic substitution laws in 50 states. The general acceptance of this concept, despite conflicting evidence that it has reduced the cost of prescription items to the consumer, has led to the concept of therapeutic substitution. Considerable confusion exists among health care professionals regarding the precise meaning of these concepts. Generic prescribing is the prescribing of a drug by a physician using the generic name. This leaves the choice of brand to the dispensing pharmacist. Generic substitution is a pharmacist-initiated act by which a different brand or an unbranded drug product is dispensed instead of a drug brand that was prescribed by the physician. This means substituting the same chemical entity in the same dosage form for one marketed by a different company. Therapeutic substitution is a pharmacist-initiated act by which a pharmaceutical or therapeutic alternate for the physician-prescribed drug is dispensed without consulting the physician. This denotes replacement of the prescribed drug with a chemically different drug within the same therapeutic category, eg, hydrochlorothiazide for furosemide; ranitidine for cimetidine; chloramphenicol for erythromycin. In 1976, the AAP Committee on Drugs published a commentary in Pediatrics (1976;57:275-277) on generic prescribing and concluded that "the lack of data on bioavailability and bioequivalence in children precludes blanket support of generic prescribing for infants and children." The Committee recently reviewed this issue and concluded that the situation has changed little during the past decade.

Medical Malpractice Litigation: Do the British Have a Better Remedy?

1986 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-463
Author(s):  
Frances H. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
Medical Service ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Malpractice Litigation ◽  
American System ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
Medical Malpractice Claims

AbstractMedical malpractice claims are filed nearly ten times more frequently in America than they are in Great Britain. British patients generally adopt a less adversarial stance toward medical malpractice than do American patients. This Article examines the British malpractice system, as compared with the American system, and explores the differences between the two, in terms of costs and fees, liability rules, statutory provisions, and judicial attitudes toward malpractice litigation. The Article also discusses British social and institutional factors, such as the “taint” of litigation and the National Health Service, and evaluates how these factors affect British malpractice litigation. The Article presents the alternative forums available to British patients in seeking satisfaction for their medical service complaints. The Article concludes with an evaluation of how these factors achieve the three societal objectives of malpractice litigation: reparation, emotional vindication and deterrence.

Avarice, Inefficiency, and Inequality: An International Health Care Tale

1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190
Author(s):  
Alan Maynard
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
International Health ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Health Care Outcomes ◽  
Care Outcomes ◽  
Health Care Delivery Systems ◽  
The Cost

The paper is concerned with impact of a medical profession, physicians, on the delivery of health care. The basic economic motivation of self-interest and avarice has led this profession to produce health care outcomes which are inequitable and inefficient. In the first section of the paper the regional geographical distribution of physicians in four disparate health systems—England, Ireland, France, and West Germany-is analyzed and found to be highly unequal. The next section is concerned with the efficacy of therapies and the cost-effectiveness of health care delivery systems in a variety of countries. The final section discusses how health care can be more equitably and more efficiently delivered. It is argued that both markets and bureaucracies are likely to be inadequate unless carefully monitored. In particular, there is a great need to investigate the cost-effectiveness of therapies and then persuade physicians, via pecuniary and nonpecuniary incentives, to behave in a manner which leads to more equitable and efficient health care outcomes.

scholarly journals Plain Talk About Health: Linguistic Aspects of Mediation between Amish and Mennonites and Health Care Professionals

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mark L. Louden
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
Pennsylvania Dutch ◽  
Old Order ◽  
Cultural Mediator

As the population of Amish and Old Order Mennonites grows exponentially, so are the contacts between Plain people and medical professionals increasing. All Plain adults are bilingual; however, the fact that the primary everyday language for most is Pennsylvania Dutch is important for understanding how they navigate the health care system. In this article I give an overview of language-related questions involved in communication between Plain people and health care providers with a focus on three areas: translation, interpretation, and patterns of language use. Much of the information I present in this article is drawn from my experience as an interpreter and cultural mediator for Plain people in a number of different public spheres, mainly health care.

Renewing the National Health Service: Labour's Agenda for a Healthier Britain

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rae Barrantes
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Labour Government ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Tier System

In this report the Labour Party gives its view of the current status of the British National Health Service (NHS), and outlines its plans for the NHS under a Labour government. The values underlying the NHS—comprehensive health care, free at the point of use, based on need rather than ability to pay—have been betrayed. The truly national health service, created by a Labour government in 1948, has been replaced by a market-based service led by accountants. Patients are suffering, health care professionals are dissatisfied, some of the nation's finest hospitals are closing, community care is in chaos, and NHS dentistry has all but been privatized. Under the Tories, the NHS faces a future of privatization, competition, and markets, money wasted on bureaucracy, and the unfairness of a two-tier system. Under Labour, the NHS faces modernization, planned progress, money spent on frontline services, and excellence for all. Labour will follow a model of health care that is patient centered and community led, a properly coordinated and efficient public service.

scholarly journals Health Care Professionals’ Knowledge of Stalking Perpetrators, Victims, Behaviors, and Coping Strategies: A Preliminary Study among Italian Hospitals

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Daniela Acquadro Maran ◽  
Barbara Loera ◽  
Alberto D’Argenio
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Large City ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Male Victims ◽  
Physical Consequences ◽  
And Coping

The aim of this study was to investigate health care professionals’ level of in-depth understanding about the various types and characteristics of stalking. In particular, the study examines knowledge on the characteristics of stalkers and their victims, acted behaviors, and coping strategies used to stop the harassment. The data were collected by means of an ad hoc questionnaire. The sample comprised 210 participants working in local health units in Turin, a large city located in the northern part of Italy. The majority were women (160, 76.2%). The participants were aged 20–64 years, and the mean age was 41.63 years (SD = 11.18). The majority of participants were psychologists (99, 47.1%), 31 (14.8%) were nurses, 31 (14.8%) had an unspecified medical profession, 29 (13.8%) were psychiatrists, and 20 (9.5%) were general practitioners. According to the findings, interventions with male victims of stalking, especially when the stalker is a woman, require attention in particular. Underestimating the stalking experience is a risk, so health care professionals in their interventions must explain to the men the emotive and physical consequences of the victimization. Moreover, in suggesting coping strategies, health care professionals must consider the victim’s fear of reporting the incident not only to law enforcement authorities but also to family and friends. The findings showed that health care professionals need a better understanding of the stalking phenomenon. Education courses are a valuable tool to identify characteristics of the phenomenon, validate existing knowledge, and decrease the level of missing information to develop the skills needed to take appropriate action in cases of stalking.

Health Care Accommodation in Scotland

1982 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-330
Author(s):  
James Maclachlan
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Work ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Tabular Form ◽  
Hospital Beds ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Cost

The Medical and Nursing Advisers of the Scottish Health Service, Common Services Agency, Building Division, advise upon the planning of health care accommodation. The overall spread of beds by function is given in a review of existing health care buildings in the year 1981. The numbers of hospital beds and of various groups of staff in the hospital and community services are calculated per 100,000 population so that any unusual disparity can be ascertained. One of the parameters for health building planning is fiscal control and so the cost per hospital in-patient week is tabulated for eight groups of specialities. The appropriate responsibilities of the Regional Councils in Scotland in 1979 are considered along with the responsibilities of Health Boards because part of each Social Work Department's work is the provision of accommodation and social care for those in need as opposed to the National Health Service responsibility for the health care of those in hospital and in the community. An overall view of residential accommodation for those requiring medical treatment or social care is presented in tabular form. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Common Services Agency.

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