Routine surgery cancellations and delays

Routine surgery cancellations and delays can be a real headache for the patients involved. The NHS must, of course, prioritise the emergency cases, but when routine surgeries are cancelled and delayed as a result of avoidable problems, we’re looking at a very different issue indeed.

Shortages of staff and cyber-security incidents have been two recent reasons for spates of routine surgery delays and cancellations. These are the kinds of scenarios that we should not be facing, and for the patients who may have to wait and suffer longer, can anything be done?

Patients are entitled to seek legal advice for routine surgery cancellations and delays, and there are scenarios were a case can be made.

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Patients put at risk due to ambulance delays because their stuck in overcrowded A&E departments

The delay for ambulance crews being able to hand patients over to hospitals in overcrowded A&E departments is said to be putting lives at risk.

With NHS figures indicating that almost 150,000 patients were cared for by ambulance crews for over half an hour over winter, from either being stuck in the back of an ambulance or in hospital corridors, crews are caught at hospital when they could be out on the road and ready to help people.

For every ambulance crew stuck at hospital looking after a patient because the A&E department is unable to take them as a result of overcrowding, there is a patient at home waiting for an ambulance that may not arrive in time.
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UK Cancer care criticised as survival rates fall short

The UK has reportedly failed to adequately improve on cancer survival rates, according to a global study. Potentially thousands of people are dying as a result of inadequate care when compared to other wealthy countries who are said to be improving at a better rate, leaving Britain behind.

Although survival rates have improved, the UK is falling behind when compared to similar nations.

With patients in Britain said to still be dying earlier when compared with other countries, it seems like we have cause for concern.
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Two-year wait for mental-health treatment not good enough

According to a BBC Freedom of Information request, a third of NHS Trusts are missing the government guidelines for psychological therapy, which should start within six weeks for 75% of referrals.

What’s more concerning is that, in some cases, there were patients waiting more than two years for the vital mental health treatment they needed.

Mental health intervention is key to saving lives. Although we all know the NHS is stretched right now, lives are clearly at risk if some patients are having to wait too long for the psychological treatment they need.
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Medical negligence compensation claims – a few facts

Medical negligence compensation is a hotly-debated topic. On the one hand, we have a stretched and underfunded public health service that could do without legal cases eating up millions of taxpayers’ pounds in pay-outs and legal fees, but on the other hand, we have the victims.

One of the major problems with medical negligence claims is that they’re often complex to run. Unlike a road accident where someone hits the back of another driver and it’s usually obvious who is at fault, in a medical negligence claim, it can be far harder to determine whether any negligence has occurred. The case often requires in-depth investigations and an expert lawyer representing you for the case; both of which costs money.
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When failure and delays in providing treatment is a cause for medical negligence

We all know that our National Health Service (NHS) is extremely busy. The mainstream media inform us about the constant shortages of nurses and hospital beds all the time. With so many patients and so little staff, sometimes it feels like the quality of care the NHS provides has significantly dropped. In their busy and long shifts, doctors and nurses are arguably susceptible to making mistakes more than we would like to think about.

Research states that around 15% of patients suffer a misdiagnosis or mistreatment because of mistakes. In the worst of these scenarios, people can be left suffering with serious problems.
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How does a medical negligence claim for compensation work?

Doctors and nurses in the medical profession are absolutely vital in society. They’re highly regarded and respected for their ability to help us with all sorts of ailments: from broken bones to the rarest of diseases.

We trust them to look after our bodies and minds. We put our faith in them that they will do their very best to help us. But, unfortunately, mistakes can happen; Doctors are human after all. When a medical professional has been negligent, it can be very stressful and cause the victim a lot of problems, which is why there is the need to make claims for medical negligence where applicable.
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Gallstone compensation claims

Gallstones are small stones that form in the gallbladder. While gallstones can generally be harmless, and do not always need to be treated, they can become trapped in a duct inside the gallbladder which can lead to serious abdominal pain.

Gallstones can be a serious medical emergency and in the worst case scenario, if not dealt with, can be fatal. As such, it’s important that gallstones are identified and dealt with when the need arises for the sake of the patient’s health and well-being. A failure by medical professionals to deal with gallstones, or where routine surgery to resolve the problems goes wrong, is where a patient may have a gallstone medical negligence compensation claim.
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Pregnancy and childbirth injury compensation claims

The birth of a new baby is often very exciting. However, while the arrival of a new baby is meant to bring joy and happiness, pregnancy and childbirth can be a very difficult time for all involved, and there are many complications that can arise.

During child birth, both the mother and the baby can suffer severe trauma which can be caused by medical negligence. If the pregnancy, child birth and the aftercare are not properly managed by medical staff, there may be detrimental consequences.
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Diabetes: diagnosis and treatment failures

Diabetes is a lifelong condition that reportedly affects 3.5 million people in the U.K. alone.

Type one diabetes is where the body is unable to produce any insulin and so the cells are unable to use the blood sugar for energy which creates a build-up of sugar in your blood stream; and Type two diabetes is where either not enough insulin is produced or the insulin is not working properly so the cells can only get access to certain amounts of sugar, meaning that blood sugar levels can build-up.

When effectively managed, people are fine to live a relatively normal life when suffering with diabetes, but diagnosis and treatment is key. As such, any failures to treat or diagnosis the condition can be catastrophic.
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Beautician pleads guilty for botched buttock surgeries

Former self-professed beautician, Ana Bertha Diaz Hernandez, has pleaded guilty for performing “reckless” buttock injections on almost a dozen customers in an attempt to enhance their features, even though she was unlicensed.

Hernandez reportedly made around £31,000 for what she called “lamb’s fat” injections. She allegedly smuggled in the unapproved substance from Mexico to inject into her clients’ buttocks to make them bigger. The court heard how Fernandez was aware of “risk of death or serious bodily injury“, and she now faces up to three years in prison for her crimes.
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Unnecessary and incorrect operations as a result of clinical negligence

Misdiagnosis and false diagnosis from healthcare professionals can lead to unnecessary and incorrect operations.

There are many reports of doctors not referring patients to the correct departments for the correct treatment, or referring patients onto a department whereby operations are undertaken incorrectly.

Undertaking unnecessary and incorrect operations can be traumatic and life changing, to say the least. The consequences of clinical negligence can be long-lasting and can necessitate further operations. Many operations can lead to unnecessary scarring at the very least, which can also be factored into a clinical negligence claim.
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