Published 19 May 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2002
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2002
News
NHS recommends doctors apologise when treatment goes wrong
Clare Dyer
1 BMJ
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Doctors should apologise and provide explanations to patients and their relatives when treatment goes wrong, according to guidance from the NHS Litigation Authority, the body which defends the NHS against legal claims for clinical negligence.
The letter from Stephen Walker, the authority’s chief executive, replaces an earlier circular that warned NHS bodies to take care when providing explanations "so as to avoid future litigation risks."
His new guidance says, "It is most important to patients that they or their relatives receive a meaningful apology. We encourage this, and stress that apologies do not constitute an admission of liability. In addition, it is not our policy to dispute any payment, under any scheme, solely on the grounds of such an apology."
Patients are increasingly demanding detailed explanations for adverse outcomes, and the authority is "keen to encourage clinicians and NHS bodies to supply appropriate information whether informally, formally, or through mediation,"
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Technorati What's this?
This Article
- Full text
- Respond to this article
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when responses are posted
- Alert me when a correction is posted
Services
- Email this article to a friend
- Find similar articles in BMJ
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Related Content
Bookmark with
What's new
Latest blogs
Find BMJ on:
Services
Tools
Online poll
Resources
Rapid responses for this article
There are no rapid responses for this article. Print issues
