When a person goes into a hospital in California, there is enough to worry about with the illness or medical issue without having to think about mistakes of one form or another being made. However, it is a prevalent problem in the state for medical negligence to result in mistakes, patient injury, and increased medical expenses. Those who have gotten infections, been subject to a surgical mistake, or had loved ones whose medical issues have grown worse need to understand what to look for and how to deal with the situation.
According to recent statistics, 37 percent of hospitals in California received grades ranging from C to F when it comes to safety. These statistics are accrued twice on an annual basis. While the number of errors in surgery or mistakes with prescriptions have declined, the number of infections and other mistakes have stayed the same. Information from the Centers for Disease Control and other agencies were used to compile the data. Hospitals in Los Angeles and San Francisco have the highest number of A rated hospitals, but in total only 43 percent received the A rating. Overall, 248 hospitals were included in the survey.
Medical professionals are trusted with the lives of their patients on a daily basis. Whether the problem is routine or serious, all patients have the right not just to a baseline standard of care, but to know when a mistake has been made by the hospital staff. Unfortunately, it is not in the interest of the hospital to disclose when hospital negligence has happened. The medical costs and potential long-lasting or even fatal nature of a medical error makes it imperative that a full investigation be conducted to determine what happened and why.
Given the number of hospitals across the state that were found to have low grades when it comes to patient safety, it’s unavoidable that people were injured and made sick because of the lack of vigilance. Those who believe they have been affected by a dangerous condition or error in a hospital need to know how to get to the bottom of what happened and be compensated with the assistance of an experienced attorney.
Source: CBS SF, “How Safe Is Your Hospital? Survey Finds More Than A Third Of California Hospitals Earn ‘C’ Grade Or Worse,” May 5, 2015
