Southend University Hospital NHS Trust has been highlighted as one of the worst Accident & Emergency departments in the country.
Due to the lack of progress made to the service, since 2012 Monitor has got involved and demanded that steps must be taken to make significant improvements. The hospital now must implement a robust plan to address the shortcomings. Slow progress could mean that the hospital may face an increase in compensation claims, for the poor treatment the general public may have received.
It seems that the problems with A&E also have extended into other areas of the hospital as some patients treatment was delayed for too long after a referral had been made. If service improvements are not made quickly enough, then Monitor will take matters into their own hands, which could result in changes to the current leadership at the hospital. Currently, the leadership team has a high staff turnover, which raises the question ‘are the members of the board actually fit for the job in hand?’
It is a well known fact that unnecessary delays to vital treatment can result in the patients’ condition worsening. This in turn could lead to an increase in clinical negligence claims as patients are disgruntled with the way their treatment is handled.
During 2012/2013 there were a staggering 16,000 claims logged against the NHS, whilst the previous year amounted to 13,500. One could assume from this that standards are not actually getting better, but worse. With the NHS under such pressure in terms of staff, budgets and bad press coverage its no wonder that mistakes have happened more frequently. Sub standard care during 2012/2013 cost the NHS a whopping £22.7 billion in compensation pay outs. Put this another way, that figure was one fifth of the entire NHS budget for that period.
The recent scandal at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust meant that £1.2 million had to be set aside to cover the costs of the many clinical negligence compensation claims that came to light.
If you have been affected by clinical negligence in any hospital in England, then call Blackwater Law for a free initial consultation about your case for compensation. We will explain the claims process to you in depth and in plain English so that you understand what is happening with your claim at all stages. Blackwater Law personal injury solicitors have helped many people achieve substantial compensation awards to enable them to progress with their everyday lives.
