Patients complain of mistreatment

PATIENT injuries caused by poor clinical decisions, inappropriate prescribing and lack of access to costly healthcare were among complaints made to patients’ representatives last year.

In an end of year statement released yesterday, the Irish Patients Association (IPA) said some of the 8,000 patients who contacted the group felt they had been injured as a result of actions or decisions of clinical personnel and that these injuries could have been prevented.

Medical packages or devices with medical equipment had also injured patients, the statement said, and unregulated advertising and sales of prescription drugs over the internet was identified as an emerging problem.