Abstract
Discussions with next-of-kin about the condition, prognosis and management of a patient when death or profound disability is a likely outcome, is a delicate challenge even for senior intensivists. This is compounded when the patient is young and previously fit, and the admission attributable to unanticipated complications of anaesthesia. Some three years after such an event, a civil claim was pursued against a consultant for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), allegedly induced by an inappropriately optimistic initial position on prognosis. There was neither complaint nor staff perception of communication difficulties in the intervening period. This article reviews limited case details, the growing trend of such litigation, the role of the expert witness, and gives guidance on communication and steps to protect clinicians from this new category of civil claim.
This case report should be read in conjunction with the editorial entitled ‘Communication with relatives and carers – another source of litigation?’ by Dee Kotak on pages 212–13 of this journal.