Introduction

At the turn of the last century, the Italian economist Pareto observed that 90 per cent of the wealth of his country was owned by 10 per cent of the population. “Pareto analysis” applied to industrial environments has shown that 80 per cent
of errors arise from only about 20 per cent of causes. This concept can also be applied to medical mishaps – most incidents leading to medicolegal problems fall into one of the following categories:

• Failure to appreciate legal and professional responsibilities
• Problems in clinical management
• Medication errors
• Administrative errors
• Failure of communication, including inadequate medical records.