Black mark against name on medical records?

[Shittenshite]

My partner and I believe we have some kind of 'black mark' against us on our medical records, and possibly others as well.

We have a solicitor involved with a case for what we believe is medical negligence, against the NHS Trust local to us. It's an extremely big, complex and serious case which is likely to go on for some time.

Over the last few months, so many strange things have happened. It seems people are acting very strange around us. Doctors, consultants, every professional we have contact with seems to keep us at arms length.

We've done nothing wrong but they're acting strange, like we have, although nobody has said anything directly. We don't say anything to anyone about the case or solicitors, but it feels like we've got some kind of black mark against us.

Can this be true or are we just being paranoid?

It is almost certainly the case. To say how I know will take too long.
SW I don’t know, but within the NHS certainly.
You just have to accept it I’m afraid. If they’re being professional (which is surely the point) then that is the important thing surely?

You have a serious complaint being made against them - so, in the nicest possible way, what did you expect?

SW and hospitals are generally not part of the same system (SW are Local Authority Drs are NHS). As there is no access to medical letters/ notes etc across the 2 systems I would suggest your SW is stretched and stressed. In one area I work in there is a 50% vacancy rate for qualified SW’s therefore they have had to reprioritise and day to day will be doing urgent safeguarding/ strat meetings etc - those with children who are not at risk may not be seen for a little while.

Your consultant (if he is at the hospital linked to your case) will probably know about the litigation and will have made his statement about the care they have provided to your DC - I would suggest they are worried/ anxious when they see you.

In the social workers case I also wonder if it's entirely possible he's promised stuff he has found from his senior he absolutely no ability to deliver on. He's hoping the op just goes away.

But in complex cases it isn't unusual for health and social services to have contact. Scrutiny on one service (education,ss or health) can overspill on the other.

It all sounds a bit vague.

Are you able to provide more context?

Is the case related to your DC? How often do they see HCP's related to their condition? (You insinuate this is happening a lot but how many medical professionals are you seeing and does this happen with all of them? Do you attend numerous settings or just see an MDT in one place?).

Is it both yourself and your partner experiencing this perceived shift in behaviour?

You have a right to read what information is kept on you. So make an appointment to view your medical records with the GP. They might charge you an admin fee, but you can read through them all and see.

I'd say that it possibly may be as others have said, every comment now will be triple thought out, in case it can be subpoenaed and used as evidence. I would probably keep things very short, and also be second guessing what I was saying until I became more accustomed to the new norm of the relationship, and being acutely aware that the relationship will change when every comment can be possibly scrutinised from your legal team. I'd hope thought that they would after a few meetings be able to find the middle ground to have at least a working relationship with you, although I doubt it will ever be a very warm one again.

It’s a thing, 20 years ago I was warned which patients were suing.

I have a case going through now and imagine I will receive the same 🤷🏻‍♀️

Came in person to hospital within 24 hours to ensure we had correct duty of care and treatment... by what i told him.. too lengthy to go into...He was there within 3 hours. We did , after that get better treatment asap. Luckily i could afford it. He also helped me apply for my and daughters medical records. They tried to deny him entry but duty of care was breached.

Your examples don't sound suspicious at all, social workers (for medical reasons) going cold is something we are experiencing too, dp is so annoyed with the whole system but we need them. As for the consultant, having an off day happens

They consultant will be worried that they are being recorded.
Just think about it, you would be stilted and minimal.

My experience with disability child's services is that they are just shit. My son is a CIzn. Not seen the socail worker at all this year. She can only come when my sons not home, we deline, she doesn't offer a better time. She is so useless and disinterested that it suits me now

A solicitor who could override medics treatment plans?

They dont like complaints

I worked as a public servant (not medical), and whilst I was professional with everyone I would absolutely behave differently with someone I knew had a history of making complaints. I'd be rigidly by the book, the result of this may have made me seem stern and lacking compassion. I'm sure they are aware of your situation, and you really can't blame them for protecting themselves professionally.

I doubt there's an official black mark in your records as that's too risky in case discovered by the patient themselves. However on a human level in terms of gossip, absolutely. DH is a health professional and this kind of thing (systemic complaints, legal proceedings etc) spread like wildfire in the grapevine. As PP posted, it's not unreasonable to be treated with more caution by people who are aware of the situation.

Doctors have their own Whatsapp and Facebook groups with up to hundreds of colleagues. Usually a place to vent, discuss industry news or post various research articles etc. It's usually separated by area of specialism, but there are invariable many colleagues from the same hospital or area within the group. Problematic patients or parents are common topics...effectively to warn colleagues. This is obviously anonymised but people can easily find out via DM or a phone call.

I'm a teacher, same applies to us, if we hear a parent is making a complaint then we will automatically be more rigidly professional around them and their children, by which i mean some of the niceties and friendliness go out of communication and it all gets a bit more formal - i'm sure it gets picked up when it happens.

Why, because as professionals we all have an innate self preservation of our career, and if you catch wind of some complaint going on in the background you clearly want to make 100% sure you don't get dragged in to it.

years ago my dad had an op that went wrong, left him disabled. We spent quite a lot with a specialist solicitor, got a specialists to confirm the op had gone badly, and shouldn't have - but when it came to it the medical profession close ranks and lock down and the NHS has such huge legal resources it was all for nothing, I mention this because a huge percentage of medical negligence cases go nowhere and cost a fortune and loads of stress to the complainant. I would think seriously before persuing them if there is any grey area between (bad) luck of the draw and negligence.

Over the last few months, so many strange things have happened. It seems people are acting very strange around us. Doctors, consultants, every professional we have contact with seems to keep us at arms length.

Most people don’t see multiple doctors, consultants and professionals over just a few months.

I can’t see how you think you’re being kept at arms length when you’re seeing all of these people within just a few months.

It sounds like you have professionals involved regularly and so I can’t see how that is keeping you at arms length??

You have now got a solicitor involved over it?

Why did you need to contact the social worker?
What was said when you rang the main office?

It sounds like you are contradicting yourself.

I agree with this.

They are just protecting themselves if there is a legal case involved.

I work in healthcare and although I am not senior enough to find out about case where the trust is being sued, I imagine a consultant would be especially if they are involved in the persons care.

if I did know that a person was suing the trust I’d probably act different if I saw the patient again. I’d probably be really formal and ultra careful about what I was doing to make sure I’m doing every I can to not be next on your hit list and I’d probably want you out of my room asap too as it’s a stressful situation to be in.

So yeah you probably are going to be treated differently now. If you have a problem with that the. You probably need to consider having your care transferred to a different trust.

Of course.

If a professionals course of action breaches their duty of care or their legal duty. The professional service then has to come up with a plan that fulfills their legal obligations (which they should have been doing in the first place).

Ive had it happen with SS.

My complaints have led to DS receiving treatment where he wasn't but should have been.

I've had a doctor removed from DS's care by mutual agreement.

Involvement of legal professionals where duty of care was breached have resulted in more substantial changes of approach.

Im not sure whether you are talking about the OPs observations about the professions involved or her legal case. But to be clear Patients absolutely should hold the NHS to account when it fails.

It depends on the context of the complaint. For example, in mental health care is not uncommon for people to complain about their diagnosis or the care they have receive. If it is physical health, it usually about some sort of harm or the attitude of staff. I probably be more cautious.

Okay, I have to be careful what I say because this is an ongoing legal matter and for reasons on anonymity I'm not going to share the details of the legal case or why and how it came about. It is relating to what my partner and I believe was an act of negligence by one department which lead to other failings, resulting in the death of our son and injuries to our daughter. I know that's vague and some people here will feel they need to know more, but as I've already said I can't share details.

All the medical professionals now are not and were not directly involved in what happened. A couple of involved due to what happened (our daughter's injuries requiring long-term care), but we have nothing against them, no complaints, and they have done nothing at all wrong.

I do, absolutely understand why medical professionals could tread with extreme care. That wasn't even my question.

My question was is it possible there's a 'black mark' on our medical records, alerting these professionals to the fact that we have a legal case against the Trust? If so, what kind of 'black mark' would that be? We haven't told any of the professionals there's a legal case - but they probably know because of the legal investigation.

To the two people who basically said I have no basis for a complaint based on the things I mentioned at the start of the thread, those two things are NOT the reason for our case and nor have I or will I make complaints about them.

I suspect that they will be aware that you've brought a legal case against others in their profession, and will be acting accordingly.