The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, UK.
Getting it Right First Time programme, NHS Improvement, NHS England, UK.
J Laryngol Otol. 2021 May;135(5):379-384. doi: 10.1017/S0022215121000852. Epub 2021 Apr 16.
Litigation in the National Health Service continues to rise with a 9.4 per cent increase in clinical negligence claims from the period 2018 and 2019 to the period 2019 and 2020. The cost of these claims now accounts for 1.8 per cent of the National Health Service 2019 to 2020 budget. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of clinical negligence claims in the subspecialty of otology.
This study was a retrospective review of all clinical negligence claims in otology in England held by National Health Service Resolution between April 2013 and April 2018.
There were 171 claims in otology, 24 per cent of all otolaryngology claims, with a potential cost of £24.5 million. Over half of these were associated with hearing loss. Stapedectomy was the highest mean cost per claim operation at £769 438. The most common reasons for litigation were failure or delay in treatment (23 per cent), failure or delay in diagnosis (20 per cent), intra-operative complications (15 per cent) and inadequate consent (13 per cent).
There is a risk of high-cost claims in otology, especially with objective injuries such as hearing loss and facial nerve injury.
英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）的诉讼案件持续上升，2018 年至 2019 年期间与临床疏忽相关的索赔增加了 9.4%，而 2019 年至 2020 年期间这一数字进一步上升至 10.4%。这些索赔的成本现在占 NHS 2019 年至 2020 年预算的 1.8%。本研究旨在确定耳科学领域临床疏忽索赔的特征。
本研究回顾性分析了 2013 年 4 月至 2018 年 4 月期间英格兰 NHS Resolution 持有的所有耳科学临床疏忽索赔。
共收到 171 起耳科索赔，占耳鼻喉科索赔的 24%，潜在成本为 2450 万英镑。其中超过一半与听力损失有关。镫骨切除术的每项索赔手术平均费用最高，为 769438 英镑。诉讼的最常见原因是治疗失败或延误（23%）、诊断失败或延误（20%）、术中并发症（15%）和同意书不充分（13%）。
耳科学存在高成本索赔的风险，尤其是涉及听力损失和面神经损伤等客观损伤的索赔。
