Do Trainee Doctors Need Legal Training To Avoid Medical Negligence Claims?

In the General Medical Council's (GMC) publication, 'Medical Guidance for Doctors', there is a section which begins: "Concerns about patient safety or the conduct, health or performance of staff can come from a number of sources, such as patients' complaints, colleagues' concerns, critical incident reports and clinical audit. If you receive such information you have a duty to act on it promptly and professionally. You can do this by investigating and resolving concerns locally or by referring serious or repeated incidents or complaints to senior management or regulatory authorities." However, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, many medical students feel they lack the legal knowledge and skills to deal with situations such as clinical malpractice.

Complaints and compliance

The GMC also states that "staff are encouraged to raise genuine concerns they have about the safety of patients, including any risks that are posed by colleagues." Being able to identify a threat that falls into the category of medical negligence requires some knowledge of medical law. According to the Journal's findings, most students felt well equipped to deal with this sort of situation, but less equipped to deal with the complaints' system. The Journal went on to comment that; "in practice, complaints are much more common than negligence cases, suggesting that the focus of teaching in this area may benefit from a change of emphasis."

When a medical professional is called upon to treat a patient, they then enter into a legally binding duty of care. This legislation means that doctors have to comply with the standards of best practice and procedures as defined by the NHS. Any deviations from these standards and procedures that results directly in patient injury or death fall into the brackets of medical negligence. It seems that while medical staff are encouraged to challenge malpractice committed by their colleagues, they have little legal training in how to avoid or deal with the situation if they are its focus.

Prevention is better than cure

The authors of the document published by the Journal concluded that; "if young doctors do not feel confident, they are unlikely to challenge poor practice or show leadership in promoting better patient care through using legal rules and an understanding of how law relates to and underpins good medical practice."

At a time when the NHS is faced with paying out billions in compensation for medical negligence claims, this warning could not be more apt. While medical staff may feel individually threatened by the potential for negligence cases that they are not fully qualified to identify or deal with, the NHS might want to consider the bigger picture. If they are able to offer legal training to students that allow them to monitor the work of their colleagues and fully understand how the law can help them to adhere to the codes of best practice, then the NHS itself could be helping both itself and patients by minimising the potential for negligence claims. In medical terms, prevention is better than cure.