Hospital Negligence - another wider scandal brewing

The story of Mr Rasheed highlighted in Channel 4’s Dispatches programme this week is a shocking tale of NHS hospital staff neglect and lack of care.

There is, however, another wider scandal brewing. If the coalition government succeeds in its plans to remove legal aid from clinical negligence cases then ask yourself one question – will there be fewer cases of neglect in NHS hospitals or more?

If the proposed changes are implemented then NHS staff will continue to be backed by the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) who will defend them against claims by patients. The NHSLA is paid for by taxpayers money, but patients who are negligently injured will get no legal aid and so will get no state support at all to pursue their claims!

Alyson Coulson and Marek Bednarczyk, two of Hart Brown’s partners, spoke to East Surrey MP Sam Gyimah (who represents Mr Rasheed’s Caterham home and has commented on the case) at his constituency office on 4 February this year to warn him about the problems that the government’s proposed cut-backs in legal aid will cause.

No doubt Mr Gyimah – who is quoted as stating that he was shocked by Mr Rasheed’s story – may be thinking again about the efficacy of the government’s planned legal aid cut backs. The government should re-think their plans too.

Hart Brown has formally responded in detail to the government’s proposals and like thousands of others who have responded we support the continuation of legal aid for clinical negligence cases.

Mr Rasheed’s story is a warning to us all

Marek Bednarczyk, Partner, Hart Brown

NHS failing basic standards of care

The Health Service Ombudsman has recently reported that the NHS is failing to meet even the most basic standards of care for older people. The Ombudsman found that some elderly patients had suffered unnecessary pain, indignity and distress whilst in hospital.

Complaints had been made in relation to patients being left unattended, receiving inadequate medication or pain relief, emergency buzzers being placed out of patients reach and patients being left unwashed, malnourished and dehydrated.

Many of these vulnerable patients might currently be eligible for legal aid to pursue claims for compensation for negligent treatment. However the government is currently considering proposals to withdraw legal aid for clinical negligence cases. Negligence claims often highlight the inadequacies of hospital care by bringing problems to the attention of the NHS management which has in the past resulted in negligent practices being abandoned and replaced with much better ones. If government support is withdrawn for clinical negligence claims many patients may be denied any access to justice. This begs the worrying question of whether if the prospect of these claims is effectively removed standards of care provided to patients by the medical profession will decline still further.


Amey Welch, Legal Assistant, Clinical Negligence