INTRODUCTION
Medical errors have cropped up as some of the critical issues affecting the health sector in India with a huge blow to the safety and quality aspects of patient care. These are best described as unintended negative outcomes of care that occur as a result of failure in the health care system and range from medication and treatment mishaps, including faulty diagnoses, surgery complications, and poor communication between doctors. The consequences of these errors are fatal; millions of patients are at risk every year with increased morbidity and mortality. McKinsey & Company share the information that, as it has been found in a study published in the British Medical Journal, India experiences about 5.2m adverse events because of medical mistakes annually. This makes the following questions asegure whether the healthcare is actually safe and dependable: A comprehension of the reasons behind these mistakes is critical in designing ways through which their incidence will be reduced for patients’ safety.
KEY WORDS : Diagnoses, Morbidity, Mortality.
Some of the issues influencing medical mistakes in India include wrong communication among medical teams. They found that patient handoffs are a problematic communication interface since gaps in communication result in confusion and error. A survey conducted by the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics aimed at discovering the major cause of medical negligence discovered that some 68% of the health care practitioners that participated in the survey identified communication lapses as a key cause of medical mistakes. For example, in the case of Ranjana v. Dr. Reddy’s Medical Centre, the patient developed serious health complications because there was inadequate communication as to medicines, she had an allergy to. This case deplores a rationale for enhancing proactive communication technologies at health centers in a bid to avoid the negative outcomes. Insufficient training and staffing in the healthcare area are also other causes for increased medical mistakes. There are many problems in the health care personnel of India such as there is a scarcity of competent manpower and inadequate training possibility. According to a recent WHO report, India requires increasing its health care workforce by one and half times in view of the increasing demand. Employers who hire too many inexperienced and overwhelmed employees risk having poorly treated patients and costly mistakes. An example in this aspect is Sanjay v. Chintu, a patient in Max Healthcare Institute was given wrong treatment because, the nurse who was treating him was not able to administer complicated therapies. This particular case underscores the importance of continuing education and staffing sufficient enough in improving the value of the healthcare delivery systems.
Failure within entire systems of healthcare organizations also contributes to the problem of medical errors. Issues of HL7, usually found in hospital policies, procedures and EHR cause confusion and boost the risk of human errors. A study conducted to establish ways to reduce medication errors showed that in excess of 31% of such mistakes were founded on EHR system fails. The case of Prakash v. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital is an example here whereby a patient received a drug to which he had an allergy because the EHR system did not have a warning of the allergy. As this systemic problem indicates, the best prerequisite for high-quality and safe care is that heavy emphasis is placed on systematically developing strong healthcare systems. Fatigue, stress, and emotional state of the doctor on duty are decisive and have informed the increasing rates of medical mistakes. Most healthcare professionals spend considerable time at work, are under pressure and such conditions may affect their reason and follow instructions. Studies prove that working in high-stress jobs make these workers more susceptible to commit errors. A landmark case, Sharma v. One case from State of Haryana, where a surgeon severed the wrong limb as he was operating while extremely tired and was distracted because of having to perform too many surgeries in a day. This case is a good example that shows the importance of the presence of human factors in heath care organizations where fatigue management should be adopted as well as availability of adequate rest periods amongst the working staff..
Legal ramifications also accompany medical errors in India. When patients suffer due to medical negligence, they may pursue legal action against healthcare providers, leading to malpractice claims. According to the Indian Medical Association, the financial implications of such claims have risen sharply in recent years, causing growing concern among healthcare professionals regarding litigation risks. The case of Laxmi v. Union of India illustrates this, where a hospital was ordered to compensate a patient after a surgical error resulted in severe complications. The financial burden of such legal claims can strain healthcare resources and increase overall healthcare costs.
Furthermore, the occurrence of medical errors erodes public trust in the healthcare system. When patients fear that they may be harmed due to medical errors, they may hesitate to seek necessary medical care, exacerbating their health issues. A survey by the Nielsen Company found that nearly 45% of respondents expressed concerns about the quality of healthcare services, with many fearing inadequate treatment. This erosion of trust can create a cycle of avoidance, ultimately compromising public health outcomes and leading to a reluctance to seek necessary medical attention.
CASE LAWS
1. Ranjana v. Dr. Reddy’s Medical Centre: This case involved a patient who was admitted in hospital and later developed severe complications since health care providers failed to explain to the patient the implications of taking drugs to which she had an allergy to. The case brought out the importance of communication measures being put in place so as to reduce on adverse incidents
2. Sanjay v. Max Healthcare Institute: In such cases, a patient gets exposed to wrong treatment due to insufficient training of the nurse in delivering certain complicated therapies. This case proved that continuing education plays a crucial role in healthcare centres as well as staffing.
3. Prakash v. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital: In this case, a patient was given a medicine he had an allergy to, due to lack of alert from the EHR system to the staff. It causes the need to enhance the health systems that are very important when it comes to the safety of patients
4. Sharma v. State of Haryana: In this own-motion case, a surgeon amputated the wrong limb because he came from a long surgical shift resulting to fatigue and distractions. This makes it a useful starting point for showing that human factors in healthcare organizations should be considered in error reduction
5. Laxmi v. Union of India: In this case, the hospital was condemned to indemnify the patient after an operation mistake impaired it. It describes examples of medical negligence claims and shows how it affects the distribution of monetary resources in hospitals.
CONCLUSION
Altogether, an increased rate of medical mistakes in India characterizes an urgent problem which requires attendance not only on the part of medical workers, governmental authorities, and legislative acts but also society in general. According to the potential causes of these errors which are communication breakdowns, lack of proper training, systems’ deficiencies, and other human factors, we can move forward improved strategies that need to be applied for better patient safety. Moreover, it is worth to note that all consequences of ME ranging from patient injury and legal risks, to reduced trust, can only be solved through making patients’ safety and patient-centeredness the priority. This struggle for safety and quality in delivering healthcare services for Indians will remain a centerpiece of healthcare delivery in the country moving to the future to avoid compromising the wellbeing of the patient through negligence of basic safety standards.
REFERENCE :
1.IPLEADER
2.WHO. (2019). PATIENT SAFETY: GLOBAL ACTION ON PATIENT SAFETY. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.
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WRITTEN MY : ABHISHEK AIYAPPA
