Why are medicolegal issues important?

Good medical records – whether electronic or handwritten – are essential for the continuity of care of your patients. Adequate medical records enable you or somebody else to reconstruct the essential parts of each patient contact without reference to memory. They should therefore be comprehensive enough to allow a colleague to carry on where you left off.

This video provides some valuable lessons in diagnosis, documentation and the information that needs to be communicated to patients.

A private neurosurgeon faces questions on consent, following a lumbar microdiscectomy sciatica and back pain.

Dr W faces a regulatory hearing after a delayed diagnosis – find out how record-keeping helped the defence.

Ophthalmologist Dr P receives a claim alleging poor consent and technique – but is that the real cause?

Treatment of an itchy rash leads to a claim against GP Dr U, but was he negligent?

After a serious car crash, Dr C is called before an inquest – Medical Protection is called in to support.

A patient presents with a sore wrist after a fall.

From 25 May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (1) will come into force and will have a direct effect in every EU country.

Mr X, a 25-year-old fit and active man, was reviewed by his GP, Dr A, with a recurrence of lower back pain. He had noticed lumbar back pain intermittently throughout his 20s, but played a lot of sports to which he attributed his symptoms.

Ms Q, 58 years old, consulted Dr G, a gastroenterologist, with a history of dyspepsia, early satiety and altered bowel habit. Clinical examination, including digital rectal examination, was recorded as normal...

Patient B, a 70-year-old female, with a history of dementia, stroke and pneumonia, was admitted to the emergency room of a private hospital in a coma. She had advanced lung cancer and was well-known to the physician, Dr Y, who was called to see her.

A female patient at a medical centre consulted GP Dr F and was subsequently sent for further treatment at another department within the building.

Mrs Y, a 39-year-old chef, opted to M see consultant obstetrician Mr B for private antenatal care. It was her first pregnancy and other than a BMI of 30 she had no pre-existing medical problems.

A private neurosurgeon faces questions on consent, following a lumbar microdiscectomy sciatica and back pain