Patients admitted to different healthcare facilities are exposed to possible medical errors. Individuals admitted to acute care are at a higher risk of medical errors. The complaints raised by patients or their representatives leads to a legal course. In some cases, the parties could resolve to isolated interventions, which affect the extent to which medical errors are addressed and resolved effectively because such decisions are not grounded on the law ( WHO, 2016) . Whenever the parties resolve to such procedures, the chance of successful medical error resolution is affected. To this end, there is a need for a proper legal framework that accommodates the professional and legal provisions to enhance patient safety while providing a clear approach that could be used when handling medical error cases (Guillod, 2013). This excerpt outlines how the local resolution process impedes the success of the legal process of handling medical errors and recommends the appropriate approach on how to balance the two methods when handling medical error cases.
According to Kapadia, Raval, and Gadhave (2017) , a significant number of acute care patients are affected by medical errors, which negatively impacts the quality of professional healthcare services. In most countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, comprehensive registration and training of medical professional are used to minimize medical errors. Additionally, most countries have enacted laws that provide justice to those affected and retribution to those who committed such medical errors. The use of isolated intervention is geared towards reaching a balanced goal and creating a mutual consensus between parties (WHO, 2016) However, the approach is associated with a limited emphasis on the need for an effective and long-term solution to medical errors. Legal considerations are aimed at compensating the victims, enhancing accountability, and fostering retribution to improve healthcare sanity. The three objectives are, therefore, embedded in different national regulatory provisions. According to Guillod (2013), the legal dimensions such as disclosure and apology laws are meant to reduce the number of preventable errors while creating a culture of improved patient care and safety across different professional levels.
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The use of isolated interventions to handle and resolve medical errors and preventable malpractice affects the process of improving patient safety. For example, when using such procedures to solve medical errors, patients are not guaranteed the desired compensation. Moreover, the process does not instill accountability when compared to the legal approach because of possible leniency for the professionals involved. Scholarly analyses indicate that the relevant laws regarding medical errors have remained unchanged for years; however, the number of prosecutions has increased (Guillod, 2013). Such a change implies that medical professionals are becoming responsible and liable for any fatal medical errors they commit in the course of their duty. On the other hand, the number of cases referred to local measures has also increased, which could imply there is a possible tendency to evading the legal approach. In the end, the chance of a successful resolution is not certain. Nevertheless, the legal path is equally characterized by overdependence, negligence, and recklessness as opposed to reasonableness as principles of convictions. Besides, the legal approach lacks the capacity to foster behavioral change among medical practitioners (Guilloid, 2013; WHO, 2016).
Based on the limitations of the local approach and the legal process of handling medical errors, there is a need for a balanced consideration that could be adopted to improve patient safety while enhancing professional accuracy among healthcare practitioners. The immediate intervention for any medical error occurrence should be focused on reducing harm (WHO, 2016). While the process of compensation through the legal process should not be focused on litigation, loss of capacity to earn and to interact should also be incorporated. However, this should not imply that the process of correcting the error is over. The occurrence should be locally assessed to determine the existence of faults and corrective measures implemented, which will prevent further or repetitive medical errors. Behavioral change should be part of the key consideration when resorting to the local process. The purpose of resolving the errors and restoring sanity should be founded on the objective of improving care and safety as opposed to convictions and compensations (Guillod, 2013). For example, prosecuting junior professionals who committed medical errors because of a failed system within the facility does not improve the quality of care and patient safety. Alternatively, resorting to a local resolution measure has a similar implication. However, combining the two processes with the purpose of diagnosing the causes and effects in line with professional practice will reveal either the system or culture-based and professional-based dimensions that contributed to the occurrence of the medical error. It becomes easy, from such findings, to determine whether there were professional negligence, malicious intentions, or whether the error was accidental ( Wallis, 2013) .
In conclusion, the occurrence of medical errors affects the process of improving patient safety and quality of healthcare. Overdependence on legal frameworks lack the capacity to foster a culture of behavioral change among professionals and does not promote system changes. On the other hand, the use of local interventions does not guarantee appropriate justice for patients. However, by combining the two approaches, the objective of improving professional competence and facility culture could be the avenue towards improved patient safety and quality of healthcare services.
References
Guilloid, O. (2013). Medical error disclosure and patient safety: Legal Aspects. J Public Health Res, 2(3): e31.
Kapadia, N., Raval, S., & Gadhave, P. (2017). Medication Errors Related to High Alert Medication. J Nurs Health Stud , 2(3):15 – 20.
Wallis, K. (2013). Developing a culture of safety: regulation or education? A Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the University of Otago, Dunedin.
WHO. (2016). Medication Errors: Technical Series on Safer Primary Care . Geneva: World Health Organization, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
