New Proposals For Treatment On The NHS

The arrival of the new coalition Government has resulted in a number of new proposals for the NHS, the intention of which ultimately is to improve the treatment for patients at the outset, without the need for readmissions.

It has emerged this week in a recent survey of surgeons, that around 20% of those questioned reported being involved in an incident where a patient was harmed, during a specified two week period. Furthermore, 40% of surgeons said that they had been involved in an untoward incident where a patient was nearly harmed in the same time period.

In light of the number of operations performed each day, this equates to problems arising in around 3% of all operations.

The most common complaint from the surgeons questioned was having to operate on patients they had not seen before, or lack of time to perform more complex operations. Surgeons said that they felt under pressure from managers to get through operating lists and reduce waiting time.

This survey raises concerns for patient safety. Whilst the NHS may be meeting targets in terms of waiting times for the operations, the targets set are not always in the interest of the patients.

A spokesperson for the NHS Confederation has been quoted as saying: "Ensuring patients are treated right first time, every time, is not only beneficial to the patient, but is also the most efficient way of running any health service."

A recent proposal put forward for the NHS is for hospitals to face financial penalties when a patient is readmitted as an emergency within 30 days of being discharged.

Currently, NHS hospitals are paid for each emergency patient treatment, regardless of the number of admissions that patient has. That, along with the constant pressure for hospital beds, often means a patient will be discharged too soon which can result in readmission just days later.

Emergency readmission rates have been rising for a number of years. In 2007 these rates had increased to more than 440,000, nearly a 50% increase since 1998.

If such a policy is to be introduced, it will have to be carefully drafted and in the best interests of the patient. The aim of the proposal is to make managers and hospitals focus more on providing successful treatment to patients at the outset.

It will be interesting to see what effect such a policy would have on readmission rates, and medical negligence claims.

This article was written by Sue Jarvis, a clinical negligence solicitor from Blake Lapthorn.