Shocked to find this out about private healthcare

[brasty]

If an operation goes wrong, private patients find it far harder to get compensation that NHS patients. NHS patients operated on by Ian Paterson through the NHS, have already received compensation. Private patients may never receive any.

"Linda Millband, national lead lawyer for clinical negligence at legal firm Thompsons, is acting for more than 500 of Paterson's former private patients.
She said private policies have very stringent restrictions, which can be revoked in cases of criminal activity, meaning the patient is not necessarily covered.
"So people are not as safe in the private sector as they are in the NHS because policies are subject to review, so even if you sue somebody, if the insurers say it is criminal conduct it falls outside the policy," she said."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40124691

[KimmySchmidt1]

It is not surprising - in private healthcare you are at the contractual restrictions on liability. Under the NHS you are not entering into any private contract in which you sign away your rights, so the only legal test is the tortious duty of care and the test of negligence.

Add to that the fact that a doctor is liable, not the hospital, and if he has no insurance or assets, or the insurer won't pay out, you get nothing.

One of the many reasons why private healthcare is risky.

[araiwa]

i guess we have different rules as doctors get sued for millions all the time in america. they take out special insurance for it

but then so do the bin men, cafe, and the bloke feeding ducks in the park in usa

[Lucysky2017]

Indeed. I would also change the rules on NHS compensation too to reduce the massive burden we tax payers have in funding such claims - it has got totally out of hand and needs a major shake up.

[brasty]

It means though that if you have a botched operation as a private patient, you may not be able to afford to put it right.

[HipsterHunter]

Agred Lucysky2017

[out4thecount]

i guess we have different rules as doctors get sued for millions all the time in america. they take out special insurance for it

UK doctors also take out insurance for it. My last UK indemnity insurance bill was about 12k per year (I'm a GP). I realise that that's probably nothing compared to indemnity costs in the USA, with which I'm unfamiliar, but then doctors in the UK don't tend to earn as much as them either.

[hanahsaunt]

Who steps in and fixes things when it all goes wrong in the private sector - the NHS ...

[brasty]

Yes I guess it is the NHS that picks up the tab. But the NHS will not pick up the tab for cosmetic repairs.

[FinallyHere]

Private hospitals tend not to have much A&E experience or capability, so if things get unexpectedly serious, you best hope is to be blue lighted to the nearest A&E facility. Something to think about when considering queue jumping.

[RedPeppers]

You need to wonder why the number of compensation claims has gone up.

I'm sure I've read read a few days ago that they are planning to an a huge increase in the next few years because the care isn't as good so there will be more 'mistakes' and therefore more compensation claims.....
So yes maybe people are claiming for nothing. Maybe they care dog it whereas they wouldn't have before. Or maybe there are more mistakes done nowdays and/or people are more aware of what is supposed to happen.

The last thing I would want to do is to somehow restrict the amount of claims on NHS.

[blaeberry]

The private patients sue the doctor - if the doctor's indemnity policy doesn't pay out then you can go for his personal wealth but this might not be anywhere enough for all the claims. I suppose there would also be criminal injury compensation? Not sure how that works or how much.

Lucky unlike America, you only get compensation for loss in the uk. In America they can include punitive damages. So while the NHS compensation bill is high it should only represent the loss the patient suffered. I am not convinced the NHS should be a special case for not compensating injuries that they have caused.

[RedPeppers]

And YY about the NHS picking up the tabs anyway if things go wrong with your private surgery (something my own parents have experienced recently)

Which is why I'm so against any private healthcare in this country.
The system as it is is NOT a properly private healthcare. It's a way to get routine treatments, maybe better, maybe wo waiting as long, maybe in an environment that will be nicer, maybe with choosing your consultant. But as soon as things go wrong, there is absolutely nothing there.

[brasty]

Maybe anyone getting private healthcare should by law have either insurance or money to pay for any complications, rather than the NHS paying?

[shinynewusername]

i guess we have different rules as doctors get sued for millions all the time in america. they take out special insurance for it

UK doctors also have this as a PP said. But it has exemptions about criminal activity too so Paterson may not be covered even though he did have indemnity cover (insurance) at the time he was operating.

His victims will be able to sue him personally but, once his personal assets have been taken, there probably won't be anything else.

[brasty]

Yes it is about exemptions in private insurance here, private Drs still have insurance here. Maybe these exemptions do not apply in the US?

[MatildaTheCat]

Private health care in the uk is far less well regulated than NHS. I have sued a surgeon very recently in the private sector and it's been incredibly long, stressful and difficult. I suspect that within the NHS the surgery would never have been offered and had it been I would have been far better informed and the surgery performed more competently.

It's a total myth that private is better care. The wait may be less and the hospital stay more pleasant but the actual treatment can be far, far worse. Of course this is not a blanket statement.

[RedPeppers]

brasty the issue is that they just don't have anything in place to cope it's a sudden deterioration (as it was with my dad).

Yes maybe some sort of insurrance or billing them for the cost if patients do end up in the NHS would be a good start.

But that's only working if we still have an NHS.

[christinarossetti]

There's also no A & E in the private health care system in the UK.

If something goes wrong, you go the nearest NHS hospital with A&E.

[FreeNiki]

I knew that as a solicitor myself.

Private healthcare is shit in this country.

Also whenever I have sued in a private healthcare case, one of the allegations of negligence almost always is: failure to transfer the claimant to a NHS facility in good time. Think about that.

[LovelyBath77]

Yes, I have seen NHS trying to sort out a lady with flesh eating bug after weight loss op (Private paid for by NHS) She died unfortunately. Horrible.

[brasty]

There is I think a couple of private A&Es in London. But obviously that is only a very small geographical part of the country

[Owlettecatboy]

@lucysky2017 and hipsterhunter. I suspect you would feel very differently if you or your child suffered life changing injuries and required care for the rest of your life. Many patients are never able to work again. I work in the court of protection and I can tell you categorically that we do not have a compensation culture when it comes to clinical negligence.

[Owlettecatboy]

The NHS is largely brilliant and I would feel much safer having a major operation in an NHS hospital than a private one. Freeniki is spot on.

[Owlettecatboy]

Brasty. Paterson had insurance but his insurers are refusing to pay out on the basis that what he did was or appears to have been deliberate.

[Mrsmorton]

Most UK indemnifiers are discretionary so they can opt not to pay out. It's rare but I'm pretty sure that's what will happen in the Desmond D'mello case.

Private care is a complex arrangements of contracts with private hospitals essentially subletting operating theatres to surgeons. There's far less regulation, appraisal and checks than in the NHS.

Apparently, fewer than 6% of private hospitals even had a crash trolley in 2015.