Nhs Flaws: Have You Taken Your Children To The Dentist?

Nhs Flaws: Have You Taken Your Children To The Dentist?

Author: Arti

With more Brits losing their health insurance cover as they become redundant as a result of the financial crisis, NHS Trusts have set aside £713 million to cover the costs of growing medical negligent compensation claims which have been predicted to soar up to 80 per cent by 2010.


The reason for the growing figures of negligence has come down to the rapid increase in the number of NHS patients boosting the pressure on practitioners. Yet can it all be blamed on the increased pressure on practitioners?


Children in pain after NHS dentists flee the country

In recent news, two NHS orthodontists have fled the country after a number of children had suffered from severe pain after the orthodontists had fitted wrongly fitted them with braces.


The children were forced to take months off school and had developed infections because of their treatment performed by Silverio Di Rocca and his wife Alicia Caffarena.


17 year old Aaron Kersey, who was 11 when he had two sets of braces fitted, was told by Rocca and Caffarena that he was to wear them for 12 months.


However, the braces had been removed in September 2008 leaving Kersey with deformed teeth where four had to be removed.


This caused him to suffer from a number of infections and was forced to be off school for three months.


His mother, Jeanette Kersey said: "So much of his puberty was spent in pain, and feeling self-conscious. He would lock himself away and didn't want anyone to see him. There is nothing we can do to give him his teenage years back."


However, neither Kersey nor any of the other children who endured painful corrective work were entitled to receive compensation after Rocca and Caffarena had been struck off the dental register due to their poor standard of care for 16 known patients.


Insurers for Rocca and his wife had refused to payout after the couple fled the country without instructing their insurer to represent them over the claims, according to the Dental Defence Union (DDU).


Lawyers from the Dental Law Partnership also had to abandon the case because of loopholes in dentists’ insurance.


Aaron’s mother said: "I feel so angry that Aaron had to go through so much and there is no compensation to make up for everything he endured. He was only 11 when this started; he is 17 now."


Loopholes in NHS insurance system

According to experts on medical negligence, "fundamental reform" is needed to ensure loopholes in the insurance policies that cover practitioners are closed.


Experts believe that thousands of dentists and doctors do not have full insurance cover and those who are covered, have policies that consist of a great number of loopholes which disable patents the ability to receive a payout when practitioners breach their duty of care.


Dr Anthony Halperin, Patients’ Association President told the Telegraph that the system was "absolutely, fundamentally wrong," with many regulators calling for an indemnity scheme or insurance policy which consists of "adequate and appropriate cover."


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/nhs-flaws-have-you-taken-your-children-to-the-dentist-818206.html

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