title: Social aspects of clinical errors.
abstract: Clinical errors, whether committed by doctors, nurses or other professions allied to healthcare, remain a sensitive issue requiring open debate and policy formulation in order to reduce them. The literature suggests that the issues underpinning errors made by healthcare professionals involve concerns about patient safety, professional disclosure, apology, litigation, compensation, processes of recording and policy development to enhance quality service. Anecdotally, we are aware of narratives of minor errors, which may well have been covered up and remain officially undisclosed whilst the major errors resulting in damage and death to patients alarm both professionals and public with resultant litigation and compensation. This paper attempts to unravel some of these issues by highlighting the historical nature of clinical errors and drawing parallels to contemporary times by outlining the 'compensation culture'. We then provide an overview of what constitutes a clinical error and review the healthcare professional strategies for managing such errors.
authors.affiliation: Manchester Metropolitan University, Department of Health Care Studies, Elizabeth Gaskell Campus, Hathersage Rd., Manchester M13 0JA, UK.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richman
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mason-Whitehead
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mercer
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors; D017751:Safety Management