Medical negligence in A&E departments

The typical UK Accident and Emergency (A&E) department is presented with one new patient every 10 minutes, making it one of the busiest places in a hospital. People coming to A&E attend through two main types of circumstances: accidents in which they have sustained trauma and emergencies in which they have suddenly become unwell.

As a result, there is a huge range of illnesses and injuries that people working at the A&E have to deal with quickly and if necessary, filter through to the correct consultants. Junior doctors and nurses make up the bulk of the workforce at an A&E department, although a number of consultants are also usually present. Search for your nearest A&E department

Medical negligence in A&E
Unfortunately, the combination of a busy atmosphere, having to correctly interpret a wide variety of symptoms in order to get the appropriate treatment, and lack of senior doctors increases the chance of mistakes being made. Junior doctors have little radiography training and have an increased chance of making inaccurate diagnoses when radiographers are not present.

The most frequent errors that take place in A&E and lead to medical negligence claims are:

• missed fractures

• missed foreign bodies in wounds or inadequate cleaning

• missed sub-dural haematoma

• missed myocardial infarction (heart attack)

• failure to take tests and scans or misinterpretation of the results

• inaccurate or late diagnosis

A study of 105 medical negligence claims resulting from treatment in accident and emergency departments was conducted by solicitors from Bristol. It found that 54 claims arose out of a failed fracture diagnosis as a result of scans not being taken or correctly interpreted, 27 claims came about following a late or incorrect diagnosis for a personal injury other than a fracture, and 24 claims alleged clinical mismanagement in A&E.

In 82% of these accident and emergency claims, patients believed the Senior House Official was at fault for the negligence.

From this study it can be seen that people who have suffered orthopaedic injuries make up many of those who make medical negligence claims following poor treatment in a UK hospital. Read more about orthopaedic injuries.

Although there are many reasons for the mistakes that are made in accident and emergency departments, many centre around the taking of poor quality notes and inadequate communication between medical staff. This is a particular problem when there is a shift change and a new person takes over the care of patients.

Medical negligence compensation
The doctors and other staff that work in accident and emergency departments across the country provide an invaluable service and save many lives each year. However, accidents can happen and unfortunately some people are injured and even die as a result of medical negligence in UK A&E departments.

If you believe that you or a family member has been affected by an act of medical negligence, you may be entitled to personal injury compensation. Our panel of solicitors have years of experience in making claims against both the NHS and private health care services and are extremely successful in doing so.

Our panel of personal injury solicitors work on a no win, no fee basis and we will protect you from some of the legal costs involved in making a personal injury case. However, there may be some initial costs for which you may be responsible. Read more about funding a medical negligence claim.

If you simply wish to get free legal advice please chat to us live via our e-chat facility or leave us a call back request so we can talk to you at the time that’s best for you, day or night. Alternatively, if you want to start a medical negligence claim today, please call 0800 10 757 95 and we will be pleased to help.