Docs kill more than the roads

By NAOIMI McELROY

MORE people are killed every year by doctors' mistakes than died on the roads, it was claimed yesterday.
The Medical Injuries Alliance warned doctors' blunders kill hundreds of innocent people every year.
Spokesman Damien Garvey added: "So if you think of how many are dying, the figure is much, much bigger than the number of people dying on the roads".

More than 84,000 medical accidents are reported every year, but the real figure could be even higher.
Experts believe around 160,000 people are injured in Irish hospitals every year, with many injured unreported.
The culture of secrecy around medical negligence means mistakes are hushed up, and doctors refuse to blow the while on one another.

The Medical Injures Alliance – launched yesterday to fight for justice for victims of medical negligence – want to make it compulsory for all health care workers to own up at the earliest possible opportunity and tell patients an accident has happened. They also want doctors to agree to examine botched surgery or other mistakes another doctor has made.

Mr. Garvey said: "At the moment, it is almost impossible to get an Irish medic to scrutinise the work of a colleague.
“"It is unfortunately the case that within the Irish medical profession the ranks close when something goes wrong for a patient".

Victims of negligence are forced to fly foreign doctors in to give a second opinion, at huge cost and effort. Medical Injuries Alliance Chairman Michael Boylan vowed to fight for patients’ rights.

He said: "In Ireland, the victims of medical negligence often find the odds are stacked against them.

"Accessing information about what has happened can be difficult or near-impossible. Without access to an effective system of legal resources needed to access justice.

"The Medical Injuries Alliance will seek to promote a cultural change in how medical negligence is addressed".
 

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