25 signatures reached
To: Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England
No more injury claim adverts on NHS pamphlets
To remove the adverts for injury claim lawyers from information leaflets given to patients.
Why is this important?
I fell off my bike two weeks ago, fracturing my shoulder and giving myself a severe concussion. The NHS treated me amazingly, especially given it was a Friday night in A&E. The bang I received to my head meant I was in no fit state to properly understand everything they told me about my injuries, so the nurses put all the information in my bag to ensure I had everything I needed when I got home to help me deal with my recovery. I woke up the next day and was perplexed when I found a load of literature about injury lawyers and compensation claims in my bag.
Currently, adverts for injury lawyers are on the back of information given to patients after treatment. Informative pamphlets are designed to notify patients of their condition and to explain what they need to do and why. These adverts encourage a 'blame' culture, do nothing to assist a patients recovery and propagate the idea that you can put a price on everything. Ironically, the NHS are likely to be one of the main targets of these law firms, thus tax payers' money is spend on litigation and compensation rather than improvements to the health care system. The NHS paid £1.2 billion in legal fees for clinical negligence. I am sure that much of this compensation is justified, however we need an autonomous health service which can operate for the good of the whole society without being blamed and forced to cough up for every worse-than-expected outcome.
It is imperative that these adverts are removed from all NHS literature that is distributed to the public.
Currently, adverts for injury lawyers are on the back of information given to patients after treatment. Informative pamphlets are designed to notify patients of their condition and to explain what they need to do and why. These adverts encourage a 'blame' culture, do nothing to assist a patients recovery and propagate the idea that you can put a price on everything. Ironically, the NHS are likely to be one of the main targets of these law firms, thus tax payers' money is spend on litigation and compensation rather than improvements to the health care system. The NHS paid £1.2 billion in legal fees for clinical negligence. I am sure that much of this compensation is justified, however we need an autonomous health service which can operate for the good of the whole society without being blamed and forced to cough up for every worse-than-expected outcome.
It is imperative that these adverts are removed from all NHS literature that is distributed to the public.
