Lucy Nichols discusses the process of litigation and the importance of perspective.
Dental negligence claims can drag on for years. The process can be incredibly distressing and can lead to tears and sleepless nights. Trying to find some perspective can be very challenging when you’re the one at the centre of what feels like a very personal attack. Understanding the process is important. A good indemnity organisation will help to de-mystify the process at the outset, so you know what to expect.
Soon after I passed my driving test I was heading to school and as I approached a traffic light it turned amber. I thought the car in front and I would go through before the red but instead it came to a fairly swift halt. I had misjudged things and crashed into the back of their car. I felt sick to my stomach as I saw the driver and passenger’s heads whip forward from the force of the collision. Luckily no-one was hurt, the driver and passenger were friendly and kind and there was no obvious damage to either car. However, it turned out the driver had taken her car to the garage to be checked and there was creasing of the metalwork inside the boot. This would cost a few hundred pounds to fix. Thankfully it was all sorted out through the car insurance so was never a real source of stress for me.
I was an inexperienced driver back then but of course experienced drivers can have accidents too. We can all make mistakes, that is as true for driving as it is in dentistry. The word negligence itself is so emotive, and seems to imply a lack of care and concern. Many of us take such allegations very personally, and that’s not entirely a bad thing. We should care about the standard of our work. But here’s the thing: many allegations are flimsy and not reflective of the care we have actually provided. Some claimants are just looking to blame someone else for their dental health problems when they should perhaps be looking a little closer to home.
Sometimes it’s really not your fault but the claim needs to go through on technical grounds. For example, if your handpiece developed a fault, and caused a burn to the patient’s lip, you may feel you couldn’t have done anything differently so shouldn’t accept blame. However, a patient really does have a right to make a claim if you burn their face. You were not wilfully negligent, but you breached your duty of care by burning the patient’s lip. In these instances it can help to think of it just like a claim on your car insurance, and remember it is best not to cause the patient you have scarred further pain and anguish by refusing to accept liability. There are also times when we do make mistakes or misjudgements, or maybe a gap in our knowledge is unearthed and an area in need of further CPD comes to light. That doesn’t mean we are a bad person or bad dentist. We are all human and not one of us can be perfect all the time, in dentistry or in life.
So, when the claim letter hits the doormat, as it likely will for most of us at some point in our career, remember this:
If you are at fault be quick to acknowledge this and to apologise, reflect on lessons learned, then hand it over to your indemnifier and don’t lose sleep over it.
If you don’t think you are at fault then say so, then leave it to the lawyers and experts to hash out whether the allegations are likely to be fair. In the meantime, don’t lose sleep over it. The claim may be dropped, there may be a tactical settlement without admission of liability, or you may be found to be at fault.
If you are found to be at fault don’t take it personally, accept it graciously. Reflect on lessons learned and leave it to your indemnifier to complete the process.
One thing that you should not do though, is feel that your whole career or sense of self-worth is being torn apart. It isn’t. Don’t think that everyone will know and think you’re a terrible dentist. It is quite rare for these cases to get any publicity. And finally, don’t cry or lose sleep. This is just a process – a process that is going on for hundreds of dentists in the UK at any one time and that most of us have been through, or will go through, at least once.