Inquests: failures of care during the pandemic may be scrutinised more closely, but ‘following the science’ will likely continue to be the dominant theme on causation
03/02/22This article is published as part of Capsticks’ Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022.
To date, the vast majority of the inquest cases we have been involved in relate to acquisition of Covid-19 during hospital admission and staffing/resource issues. We have noticed a definite trend whereby Coroners were broadly understanding of the circumstances in which care was given. However, in a recent case a Coroner was critical of a decision not to escalate a patient’s care to ICU. Whether this is an isolated determination or is the start of a wider trend remains to be seen.
The established trend of Coroners appearing somewhat reluctant to determine that Covid was contracted during hospital admission, continues. For example, one Coroner’s view was influenced by the way Covid is transmitted, incubation periods and false negative tests. If this approach of ‘following the science’ is replicated nationally, it may reduce the likelihood of Covid-related claims.
Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022
This article is part of Capsticks’ Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022.
Read the other articles featured in this publication below:
- Spotlight on two liability decisions to watch out for in 2022
- Fixed recoverable costs in low value clinical negligence claims are on the horizon
- Concussion injury in elite sport will remain in the headlines
- Inquests: failures of care during the pandemic may be scrutinised more closely, but ‘following the science’ will likely continue to be the dominant theme on causation
- Procedures and policies, including national policy decisions, will be central to the defence of Covid-related claims
- The latest on the Covid-19 Public Inquiry
- Learning from the Paterson Inquiry: new legislation on regulation, co-operation between regulators and more
- The rollout of technology to support the delivery of care will continue apace, with data security coming into ever sharper focus
- There is likely to be an increase in the number of clinical trials
- Safety of medicines and medical devices will come under closer scrutiny
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