What is it about?
Clinical negligence litigation typically takes several years, and is acknowledged to be a very stressful process for all concerned. This articles discusses whether, after an exhausting and expensive process, it is worth the additional time, money and emotional investment to challenge a court’s decision.
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Why is it important?
Litigation, particularly around childbirth events, is a very sensitive topic. Having suffered some kind of recognisable damage, claimants must invest hugely in emotional (and often financial) terms if they are to succeed in establishing that the damage suffered has been due to negligence. Clinical practitioners who are the subject of the claim may have to endure years of protracted negotiation, with their reputation (and in some cases their employment) under scrutiny. The subject is important because it means so much to the people involved.
Perspectives
I have interviewed practitioners who have been involved in litigation, but even so it’s hard truly to imagine the strains and stresses they experience. As for the family who bring the claim, they experience all that and more, as they are the ones who have suffered the harm. To bring a claim takes a lot; to go through an appeal, whoever initiates this, is likely to take even more.
Dr Andrew Symon
University of Dundee
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Appealing a decision, British Journal of Midwifery, September 2017, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/bjom.2017.25.9.606.
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