Clinical Negligence claims currently cost the NHS over £2 billion every year. Litigation is time-consuming, expensive and stressful for all involved. For those whose lives have been changed dramatically as a result of negligent medical treatment, bringing a claim may be the only means of obtaining redress for the harm done to them. But the process of litigation can be a bewildering and sometimes hostile experience. For many healthcare professionals the fear of litigation is a real concern and there is deep anxiety that litigation contributes to an unhealthy, even dangerous culture of blame. Clinical Negligence Made Clear: A Guide for Patients and Professionals is an attempt by one the country’s leading clinical negligence practitioners to help all those who might be affected by such cases to understand what is involved and thereby to reduce the cost and emotional impact of clinical negligence litigation. In concise, accessible language Nigel Poole QC charts how clinical negligence has evolved, its place within the justice system and how compensation is assessed explains ten core legal principles of clinical negligence such as the doctor’s duty of care and the standards expected of healthcare professionals sets out how a claim proceeds and what happens before and during a trial focuses on specific common areas of clinical negligence claims such as wrongful birth, delays in cancer treatment and cosmetic surgery looks to the future and asks whether the current system is sustainable The aim is to provide an intelligent but accessible guide for patients, doctors, nurses, therapists, expert witnesses, and healthcare managers so that those caught up in legal proceedings have a realistic view of the impact they will have and a clearer understanding of when a dispute might be best resolved early. No doubt it will also provide a lively introduction to the subject for students, trainees and lawyers looking to move into clinical negligence work.

Prenatal care programs have proven effective in improving birth outcomes and preventing low birthweight. Yet over one-fourth of all pregnant women in the United States do not begin prenatal care in the first 3 months of pregnancy, and for some groupsâ€"such as black teenagersâ€"participation in prenatal care is declining. To find out why, the authors studied 30 prenatal care programs and analyzed surveys of mothers who did not seek prenatal care. This new book reports their findings and offers specific recommendations for improving the nation's maternity system and increasing the use of prenatal care programs.

"This book demonstrates that with greater legal and procedural focus, a medical negligence case can be run more cost-effectively. The book focuses on the changes in practice demanded by restrictions in funding, taking into account conditional fee agreements, Lord Taylor's Practice Direction and Lord Woolf's proposed reforms."