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SAYING “SORRY” AND THE LAW

2002-05-08

When I heard about the proposal that doctors in the new scheme of

insurance cover for medical negligence have to say sorry, I was

stunned at first but afterward I was laughing.

What’s going on? Who do the doctors think they are? I was taught,

like everyone else in this country by parents or school about politeness

and how apologetic we should be to others. Saying sorry is not about

the law, but about the honesty and morality. I started asking myself:

what exactly are they talking about? They want to change the lawsuit

for “APOLOGY” or am I wrong?

What do they want from us then? I don’t know.

But I know what we want from them. We would like to see the best

medical treatment and deep trust between patients and doctors.

 A couple of months ago or more, I saw a fantastic TV program

about the US hospital, which for last 15 years, has taken a different

approach to medical negligence. Everyone should see that program,

particularly all the medical professionals and politicians. What mainly

stuck in my head was that the management of this hospital openly put

on the table firstly patient’s right to know the truth about any negligence

if it occurs. Made contact with the patients, talked to them, explained

honestly what’s happened and advised them of their rights.

At first I thought that they were doing this only to save money from

lawsuits but there was something else. Performance in that hospital

improved and the staff started to make less mistakes than before,

because they were learning from their own mistakes. They stopped

thinking about lawsuits, they started to be more confident and

concentrate on their medical skills and performance, which was

beneficial not only to the hospital, but mostly to the patients.

That’s why medical professionals and insurance companies should

acknowledge that saying ‘SORRY’ is the first step, to telling the truth

and only the truth to the victims of medical negligence. Stop covering up

any negligence, destroying patients’ documents and stop hiding behind

the law, which protects doctors, not the innocent victims.

Everybody knows that genuine apology should come from our hearts

not from the law, after that maybe we will have more understanding

and acceptance for medical mistakes. I wish that all people involved

in the medical negligence dispute understood this and I hope that they

will try their best not only for themselves but also for us patients.

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