Can You Claim for Negligent Hospital Discharge?

Being discharged from hospital should only happen when it is safe for a patient to return home or move to appropriate ongoing care. Unfortunately, we are increasingly seeing cases where patients are discharged too early, without adequate assessment, support or treatment in place.

In some situations, an unsafe or premature hospital discharge can lead to serious complications, readmission to hospital or avoidable harm.

What Is Negligent Hospital Discharge?

A hospital discharge may be considered negligent if a patient is sent home before they are medically fit, or where proper discharge procedures are not followed.

Examples may include:

• Failing to identify ongoing symptoms or deterioration
• Discharging a patient before test results are reviewed
• Failure to arrange appropriate follow-up care
• Medication errors on discharge
• Failure to assess mobility or care needs
• Discharging elderly or vulnerable patients without adequate support
• Failure to recognise infection, sepsis or post-operative complications

Not every poor outcome will amount to negligence. However, where a patient suffers avoidable injury because they were discharged too early or without appropriate planning, there may be grounds for a medical negligence claim. There was a report about this published in 2016.

Common Problems Following Early Discharge

We often see patients who are readmitted shortly after discharge because their condition worsened at home.

This can include:

• untreated infection
• falls following surgery
• worsening breathing problems
• complications after childbirth
• untreated pain or bleeding
• dehydration or malnutrition in vulnerable patients

In some cases, delayed treatment following discharge can lead to long-term injury or even death.

What Needs to Be Proven?

To bring a successful medical negligence claim, it is usually necessary to show:

1. That the hospital acted below a reasonable standard of care; and
2. That the early or unsafe discharge caused avoidable harm.

Medical records, discharge notes and expert medical evidence are often important in establishing whether mistakes were made.

Time Limits for Bringing a Claim

In most cases, court proceedings for medical negligence must be started within three years of:

• the negligent treatment; or
• the date you became aware that negligent treatment may have caused injury.

Different rules can apply for children or patients lacking mental capacity.

How We Can Help

At Alan Curtis Solicitors, we understand how distressing it can be when a patient is discharged from hospital before they are ready or safe to leave.

We have many years of experience handling medical negligence claims and appreciate that families often want answers as well as financial support for the consequences of poor care.

If you are concerned about the treatment received by you or a loved one, our experienced team can provide confidential advice on whether a claim may be possible.

To speak to our medical negligence team, please contact Alan Curtis Solicitors.