Clinical Negligence and Mental Health - written by Richard Popoola, Paralegal Clinical Negligence and Serious Injury
On 17th June 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published an article on mental health and how to strengthen our response to it[1]. This is due to the increase in mental health conditions worldwide. When we just look at the UK alone, we see that mental Health conditions are a growing concern. According to Mind, the mental health charity, 1 in 4 people in England will suffer from a mental health condition each year. This is an increase from the 1 in 6 statistic that was previously cited.
This increase shows that mental health conditions are becoming ever more common. Mental health conditions can range from issues such as Anxiety, Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder. Some conditions are complex and can cause serious harm.
Fortunately, as a society, we have become more encouraged to look after our mental health and to seek help when needed. The WHO describes our mental health as “integral component of health and well-being”, and they go on further to say that “it is vital to not only protect and promote the mental well-being of all, but also to address the needs of people with mental health conditions.”.[2]
A big part of addressing the needs of people with mental health conditions is offering suitable treatment. However, just as things can go wrong when receiving treatment for physical conditions, things can also go wrong when receiving treatment for mental health conditions.
When we think of Clinical Negligence claims the first thing that comes to mind is physical injury or physical harm caused by the negligent action or inaction. We do not tend to think about the psychological injury or psychological harm that could be caused by the negligent action or inaction, even more so we do not tend to think that a claim can be brought for psychological harm that has been caused by a medical professional.
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health and when there is a failure in the treatment of our mental health there can be disastrous consequences just as there can be when there is a failure in the treatment of our physical health.
There are two main ways in which Clinical negligence and mental health coincide with one another. The first is when negligence arose from the direct treatment of the mental health condition. This could be when the doctor has misdiagnosed the mental health condition, delayed the diagnosis, prescribed inappropriate medication, or failed to recognise any risk of suicidal thoughts or self-harm ideations. The negligence can occur in any way and the above is not an exhaustive list.
To make a clinical negligence claim concerning mental health, the negligence must have caused psychological harm, such as a further deterioration of the mental health condition or the harm resulting in a mental health condition. This brings us to the second way in which clinical negligence and mental health coincide with one another. This occurs when a mental health condition affects a person due to the clinical negligence harm they suffered from.
An example of this would be if one was to start suffering from depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder due to the harm they suffered as a result of a clinical negligence action or inaction.
Everyone should get the opportunity to get justice for the personal injuries they suffer as a result of medical negligence whether it was physical harm or mental harm, in such cases our team can provide you with assistance and advice. Please do get in touch if you have any further questions or would like to discuss if you have a claim through our free initial consultation.
SeriousInjuryClinicalNegligenceTeam@clearlawonline.co.uk
[1] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
