A senior medical officer and lawyer, Dr Edward Addo Dankwa, says there should be a minimum standard for determining medical negligence.

According to him, healthcare is a human institution where outcomes can vary, and not all adverse outcomes are due to medical negligence.

He stated that a minimum standard is necessary to assess whether a negative outcome was caused by staff failing to meet or falling below established standards.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Law, Mr Dankwa said, “Sometimes we have good outcomes and other times we have bad outcomes; it is natural. Not all bad outcomes are the result of medical negligence. Therefore, there should be a minimum standard to determine whether a particular adverse outcome was due to staff failing to meet or falling below the necessary standards.”

He stated that if a shortcoming directly causes harm to a patient or even results in death, the patient can be compensated if death has not occurred.

He however called on health professionals to prioritise thorough documentation and patient care to prevent legal challenges.

He highlighted the increasing number of medical negligence lawsuits being filed against healthcare providers and urged his colleagues to take proactive measures to safeguard themselves.

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