Common examples of complaints about medical practitioners

II. Common examples of complaints about medical practitioners

Patients rely heavily on the expertise of doctors when they receive medical treatment. There are inherent risks involved in some medical treatments, and so, very often, there are occasions when patients are unhappy with the treatment that they have received.

Here are some examples of common complaints about medical practitioners:-

• Failure to attend or treat a patient speedily;
• Failure to refer a patient to another doctor who is a specialist in the relevant disease or injury;
• Failure to explain a medical treatment and warn the patient adequately of the risks involved in the treatment;
• Failure to advise the patient of the various options for medical treatment;
• Wrongful diagnosis;
• Failure to remove a surgical instrument from the patient’s body following an operation;
• Failure to arrange a follow-up session or further tests for the patient;
• Delayed diagnosis;
• Failure to obtain proper consent to treatment from the patient;
• Medication errors;
• Careless surgical procedures;
• Delayed referral to specialists;
• System errors in the clinic or hospital;
• Use of unsterilised instruments;
• Early failure of replacement hips;
• Misinterpreted X-rays, screening, and other testing;
• Liability for hospital-acquired infections;
• Administering an inoculation despite contra-indications.

It is important to bear in mind that the unsatisfactory outcome of a medical treatment in itself is insufficient to support a contention that the medical practitioners treating you were negligent.  You cannot sue your doctor for medical negligence simply because your illness has not been cured after a series of treatments.