The National Health Service (NHS) is an organisation we cherish and are proud of. When something goes wrong, emotionally it can be difficult to decide to take action to get mistakes put right.

However, you should expect that the NHS will not be negligent in the way that it treats you. Where the treatment you have received is below even a bare competent standard and you have suffered a detriment you are entitled to complain.

Sometimes substandard treatment is caused by a lack of organisation or funding, or institutional incompetence. It can be something as simple as a failure to use the right equipment properly or to replace it when it had gone wrong.  A failure to raise concerns about such treatment is how these things continue as recent investigations and inquiries into hospital care in the NHS have shown only too clearly. Only by shining a light into these areas will they begin to improve. Putting something right now can help prevent similar problems happening in the future.

The NHS themselves recognise there are times when poor treatment is simple indefensible. The NHS calls such times ‘Never Events.’

The Patients Association recently branded as a “disgrace” the number of ‘never events’ suffered by NHS patients.

The NHS’s list of ‘never events’ for 2015/2016 are:

1. Wrong site surgery

2. Wrong implant/prosthesis

3. Retained foreign object post-procedure

4. Mis-selection of a strong potassium containing solution

5. Wrong route administration of medication

6. Overdose of Insulin due to abbreviations or incorrect device

7. Overdose of methotrexate for non-cancer treatment

8. Mis-selection of high strength midazolam during conscious sedation

9. Failure to install functional collapsible curtain or shower rails

10. Falls from poorly restricted windows

11. Chest or neck entrapment in bedrails

12. Transfusion or transplantation of ABO-incompatible blood components or organs

13. Misplaced naso- or oro-gastric tubes

14. Scalding of patients

Full details can be found on the NHS’s website:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patientsafety/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2016/01/never-evnts-list-15-16-v2.pdf

If you believe you have been the victim of a ‘never event’ you need our advice.

We can help with a complaint to the NHS which can be a daunting process. It is a standard procedure and one that we have years of experience in using.

You may also be entitled to compensation. If your life or that of your loved one’s has been impaired the financial recompense we can achieve will go some way to putting you back on track.

The NHS is a complex organisation. It is made up of a vast array of different legal entities which makes it essential to use experienced and specialist legal practitioners for your case. Whether the claim is against a Choose and Book NHS practitioner, a CCG, PCT, or a Foundation Trust Pattinson and Brewer have e experience in them all.

Our cases:

We are currently representing a Claimant who attended an NHS Trust for a routine eye procedure.

Inexplicitly, the Trust had failed to replace a colour printer that had been removed weeks ago and they failed to connect a piece of equipment to print off crucial pre-operative results. Consequently, the procedure was carried out on completely the wrong part of the eye and our client had to undergo another operation to correct the surgical error, prolonging her recovery period.

We have now achieved a prompt admission and apology from the Defendant Trust.