Case report 17/09/2019 A problematic knee replacement Preview Article A problematic knee replacement Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview A case study looking at post-surgery complications. It is important to acknowledge patient dissatisfaction and agree a plan for ongoing care. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Orthopaedics
Case report 01/08/2019 Accidental anaesthetic awareness Preview Article Accidental anaesthetic awareness Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview A patient makes a claim against an anaesthetist member following intra-operative accidental awareness, which she alleged resulted in psychiatric injury. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Anaesthetics Record keeping Casebook Claims
Case report 18/07/2019 An early presentation Preview Article An early presentation Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Baby T was eight weeks old when his mother brought him to his GP’s morning surgery. His mother had become increasingly concerned about his general irritability and frequent crying episodes, which lasted up to two hours. These had become apparent over the past three days, not settling with breast feeding. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Diagnosis Managing clinical risk Claims GP locum General practice
Case report 18/07/2019 Missed critical limb ischaemia Preview Article Missed critical limb ischaemia Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview Mr S was a 60-year-old lorry driver. He was overweight and smoked, and couldn’t walk far because he suffered with pain in his calves. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Managing clinical risk Diagnosis Casebook Scotland Medical Records GP locum Casebook
Case report 18/07/2019 Back again with cauda equina syndrome Preview Article Back again with cauda equina syndrome Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview When Mrs C, a keen golfer in her early forties, began to experience constant pain in her lower back, she consulted a GP at her local surgery. Dr P took a history of slow onset of pain with restricted mobility. He did not examine her, but prescribed an NSAID and advised Mrs C to return in two weeks if there was no improvement. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Managing clinical risk General practice GP locum Orthopaedics Diagnosis
Case report 01/07/2019 An uncollected prescription Preview Article An uncollected prescription Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview An elderly patient dies after his prescription goes uncollected. Who is at fault – the GP or the patient’s care home? Medical Protection assisted a member at the resulting inquest. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Inquests General practice Casebook
Case report 01/07/2019 Treating asthma over the phone Preview Article Treating asthma over the phone Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview Dr T’s deskilling in resuscitation leads to a patient death and a claim. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Competence Communication Casebook
Case report 01/07/2019 Too close to home Preview Article Too close to home Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview This psychiatric claim underlines the perils of treating those close to you. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Casebook
Case report 20/06/2019 Delayed diagnosis of lung cancer Preview Article Delayed diagnosis of lung cancer Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Mr U has a hernia repair and is later diagnosed with lung cancer. He makes a claim against two surgeons involved, alleging it should have been identified sooner. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Claims Diagnosis Casebook
Case report 04/06/2019 Paraplegia follows epidural Preview Article Paraplegia follows epidural Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview Consent and record-keeping are at the heart of this claim, which sees a patient left paraplegic following an epidural. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Casebook Consent Anaesthetics
Case report 29/05/2019 Video: A Nitrofurantoin Problem Preview Article Video: A Nitrofurantoin Problem Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview A doctor's failure to link raised ALT levels with a patient's use of nitrofurantoin led to a complaint being brought against them. Watch this short video to find out how the situation arose and advice Medical Protection gave. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... Communication Casebook Competence Complaints Prescribing Claims
Case report 22/05/2019 A tale of two doctors: the junior and the consultant Preview Article A tale of two doctors: the junior and the consultant Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview Dr Marika Davies, medicolegal consultant, looks at the recent case of GA v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2019] CSOH 31, where the death of a 77-year-old patient raised questions over where the liability for the negligence lay: the junior doctor or the consultant? Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Diagnosis Communication Claims
Case report 09/04/2019 Video: Failure to act on lower back pain Preview Article Video: Failure to act on lower back pain Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview In this video, we look at how red flags for cauda equina syndrome were missed by both GP and hospital, leading to a costly claim. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... Complaints Claims Diagnosis Communication
Case report 08/02/2019 Problems arise from spinal anaesthesia Preview Article Problems arise from spinal anaesthesia Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview A 48-year-old man underwent abdominoplasty and liposuction. At the pre-operative visit, the consultant anaesthetist proposed general anaesthesia along with a spinal anaesthetic for the purpose of post-operative pain relief. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Obstetrics & Gynaecology Anaesthetics Complaints Claims Competence
Case report 27/11/2018 Video: Two years of Multiple Jeopardy Preview Article Video: Two years of Multiple Jeopardy Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview A patient dies after amoxicillin reaction – we support GP through criminal investigation, inquest and GMC hearing. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... GP indemnity
Case report 27/11/2018 Video: Living up to expectations Preview Article Video: Living up to expectations Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview Dealing with claims accounts for about 1/5 of the cases we handle. This video examines a claim made against a consultant surgeon because he left out critical information from a patient’s notes. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... Casebook Casebook Scotland Managing clinical risk
Case report 27/11/2018 Video: Chain reaction Preview Article Video: Chain reaction Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview This video provides some valuable lessons in diagnosis, documentation and the information that needs to be communicated to patients. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... Complaints Record keeping
Case report 27/11/2018 Video: Anatomy of a claim Preview Article Video: Anatomy of a claim Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview This video looks at a scenario where a patient brought a claim against three GPs in the same surgery, and how understanding the varied claims enabled us to support the doctors throughout the whole process. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... GP GP indemnity
Case report 27/11/2018 Video: Caught by consent Preview Article Video: Caught by consent Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview A private neurosurgeon faces questions on consent, following a lumbar microdiscectomy sciatica and back pain. Read more Article contains Video Tagged in... Consent Record keeping Casebook Orthopaedics Casebook Scotland
Case report 01/11/2018 Failure to remove a swab leads to months of problems for a patient Preview Article Failure to remove a swab leads to months of problems for a patient Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Miss Y, 37 years old, was known to have bilateral ovarian endometrial cysts treated at the time of a laparotomy by Mr D, consultant gynaecologist. For several years she had been regularly followed up and repeat scans had showed recurrence of her cysts, which were managed with dydrogesterone. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Casebook
Case report 24/10/2018 Missed bowel perforation leads to complications and a large settlement Preview Article Missed bowel perforation leads to complications and a large settlement Time to read article: 1 mins Close Preview A woman is seen by a consultant gynaecologist, scheduled to have a diagnostic laparoscopy and her copper IUD removed. After the laparoscopy the woman is in pain, which worsens as a diagnosis is missed. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Diagnosis
Case report 24/10/2018 Issues arise after leaving a patient in someone else’s care Preview Article Issues arise after leaving a patient in someone else’s care Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Managing clinical risk Record keeping Obstetrics & Gynaecology Professionalism
Case report 23/10/2018 Nausea and weight loss – what’s the cause? Preview Article Nausea and weight loss – what’s the cause? Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Dr W faces a regulatory hearing after a delayed diagnosis – find out how record-keeping helped the defence. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Decision Making Record keeping
Case report 23/10/2018 Questioning your consultant Preview Article Questioning your consultant Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview A disagreement between a specialty trainee and her consultant lies at the heart of a regulatory hearing following a patient’s death. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Communication Oncology Whistleblowing