Superbugs are anything but super if you are unfortunate enough to catch them. In recent years thousands of deaths have been caused by antibiotic-resistant infections acquired whilst in hospital. TV Actress Leslie Ash’s recent £5 million compensation payout has shown that where these infections have a serious impact on a person’s health, then there is the potential for a large amount of compensation.
The MRSA and C. Difficile bacteria have barely been out of the news in the past few years. These difficult to treat microbes are responsible for thousands of serious illnesses every year, with around 4000 people a year being treated for MRSA, and around 50,000 people contracting C. Difficile. The antibiotic resistance of the bacteria makes treatment difficult, with only a limited range of drugs available to hospitals to treat patients.
What makes superbug infections worse is the knowledge that such infections are not inevitable, and in many cases, simple hygiene procedures such as hospital staff washing their hands between patients can help to stop the spread of the bacteria. Increasingly, where so-called hospital acquired infections have been diagnosed, sufferers are claiming compensation from the NHS. Compensation claims have been made due to the negligence of the hospital in exposing a person to the infection, and recent cases in England and Scotland have even brought calls for these infections to be labelled as hazardous substances in their own right.
Classifying superbugs as hazardous substances means that hospitals are now also open to compensation claims made using the COSHH regulations. COSHH or Control of Substances Hazardous to Health is a set of regulations that require employers to protect their employees from biological agents through appropriate decontamination and disinfection procedures. In recent legal cases there have been many arguments that MRSA could be classified as a biological agent under the Regulations.
Camps Solicitors welcomes any moves to make it easier for MRSA and C. Diff. Patients to claim compensation for the injuries these infections have caused them to suffer. In the words of one of the government’s own MRSA advisors, “It will help patients hold the NHS to account and that will help improve our performance in infection control…” If you or someone you know has contracted an infection whilst in hospital, then it may be possible to make a compensation claim for the personal injuries they have suffered.
Call 0800 092 8586
Speak to one of our claims advisors about your claim.
