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香港的醫療服務水平普遍都很高,不過,即使醫護人員有多訓練有素和專業,有時也難免會在治療過程中出錯。這一節「長者法網智多聲」,就跟大家談談醫療疏忽。

甚麼是醫療疏忽呢?醫護人員提供的醫療服務低於認可水平,沒有做應該做的、或做了不應該做的,而導致病人受傷或死亡,就是專業疏忽,亦即醫療疏忽。如果病人因此而受害,就可以以醫療疏忽為理由,要求賠償。

要留意,如果純粹因為醫生沒有把您醫治好,或接受治療之後出現不良反應,就要控告醫護人員或機構醫療疏忽,這種想法便不太對了。

法庭在處理醫療疏忽申索個案時,要考慮的事項是很多和很複雜的,例如,怎樣才是「達致合標準的護理水平」呢?執業醫生的表現如何?還有醫學報告等。法庭要考慮所有證據,才可以裁定是否有醫療疏忽;病人亦要證明,是因為專業醫護人員的表現太差,所以才出現不理想的醫療效果,這叫「因果關係」,一般都要由專家證人作證。要證明存在「因果關係」,亦是醫療疏忽申索最難的部分。

控告醫護人員或機構醫療疏忽,要有甚麼理由呢?如果醫生處方了錯誤藥物導致您受害、您有骨折但醫生發現不到、在醫院留醫時受感染、康復的時間較醫生預期的長、麻醉之後仍然清醒、絕育或結紮手術失敗、手術出錯導致身體受永久傷害、失去工作能力或自我照顧能力等,這些都可能是理由。

由於每件案件也不同,所以很難說這宗案件可以賠到多少錢,那一宗又可以賠得多少。一般情況下,法庭在決定賠償金額時,會考慮很多因素,好像是病人因為醫療疏忽花費了多少錢、他承受了多少痛楚和苦難、因為醫療疏忽而損失了多少錢等。

在採取法律行動之前,我們建議大家先向有關的醫護人員和醫療機構發投訴信,看看他們有何回應,再決定是否告上法庭。由於涉及醫療疏忽的官司,一般都很複雜,所以最好還是請專門處理醫療疏忽申索的律師幫忙。如果負擔不起律師費,就可以考慮向法律援助署申請法律援助。香港律師會亦設立了免費法律諮詢熱線,但千萬不要找索償代理呀。有關法律援助,大家可以到長者社區法網文字版找到詳情。至於想知道多一點醫療疏忽的資訊,也可以參考我們的網頁。謝謝大家收聽。

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Common examples of complaints about medical practitioners

Medical negligence

Here are some examples of common complaints about medical practitioners:-

  • Failure to attend or treat a patient speedily;
  • Failure to refer a patient to another doctor who is a specialist in the relevant disease or injury;
  • Delayed referral to specialists;
  • Wrongful diagnosis;
  • Delayed diagnosis;
  • Failure to explain a medical treatment and warn the patient adequately of the risks involved in the treatment;
  • Failure to advise the patient of the various options for medical treatment;
  • Failure to arrange a follow-up session or further tests for the patient;
  • Failure to obtain proper consent to treatment from the patient;
  • Careless surgical procedures;
  • Use of unsterilised instruments;
  • Failure to remove a surgical instrument from the patient’s body following an operation;
  • Medication errors;
  • Misinterpreted X-rays, screening, and other testing;
  • Liability for hospital-acquired infections;
  • Administering an inoculation despite contra-indications.

It is important to bear in mind that the unsatisfactory outcome of a medical treatment in itself is insufficient to support a contention that the medical practitioners treating you had been negligent.  You cannot sue your doctor for medical negligence simply because your illness has not been cured after a series of treatments.