Medical negligence claims as a result of outsourced surgical procedures

If you are told you need an operation available on the NHS you would naturally expect the procedure to be carried out to the standards set out by the Department of Health. Sadly, since the NHS started outsourcing certain healthcare procedures, a substantial number of medical negligence claims have since arisen.

Outsourcing is a subcontracting process, such as for the provision of cataract operations or GP out-of-hours care, to a third-party company. It is usually carried out to reduce costs or to utilise efficiencies related to competencies of specialist companies or service providers.

However, concerns have been raised over clinical practises of some private healthcare companies carrying out NHS procedures.

A personal injury solicitor spokesperson said, My concern and the concern of my team is over the clinical standards which patients can expect when undergoing surgery outsourced by the NHS to private companies."

There is fear that, although in principal the standards of care and procedure should be no different to that of the NHS, the contracts awarded may induce money saving short cuts that could adversely affect the level of care patients receive. After-care is one area of major concern.

Research has highlighted that some healthcare provision companies employ staff without sufficient regard to their qualifications and experience, and who may not be fully understanding of NHS procedures.

A much publicised case of these fears occurred in 2005 after a privately owned healthcare provider had carried out a contract to perform a large number of cataract operations in the UK.

There were claims that patients were given blood pressure drugs so that the operations could be performed with immediacy; this contravened NHS guidelines.

A report published in the official journal of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO), also cited an increased level of endophthalmitis cases in those who had received cataract surgery under this outsourced contract.

Endophthalmitis is inflammation affecting the interior of the eye, usually caused by infection. It can lead to reduced vision and even blindness. The RCO requires that cases of endophthalmitis be treated as "critical incidents" that must be reported through relevant clinical channels regulated by the government.

After these particular outsourced cataract procedures, the incidents of endophthalmitis were twice as high as the national average. This raised grave concerns for the infection control standards practiced by the healthcare company and patients may have been able to make claims against the healthcare company for medical negligence.

YouClaim and medical negligence compensation
If you feel you have received personal injury through a negligent outsourced surgical procedure you may be able to make a compensation claim.

Whilst the complexities of medical negligence claims preclude us from stating that you will not be charged any legal fees, we assure you that we will advise you of any charges before you commit to them and in a won case we will always reimburse you.

If you wish to discuss a medical negligence compensation claim, please call our confidential helpline now on 0800 10 757 95 or you can request a more convenient time when we can call you back. Alternatively, fill in the online claim form and we will look into your compensation claim before we call you to discuss it further. Above all, at YouClaim we are here to help.