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In 1980, the BBC aired the film 'Minor Complications' as part of its 'Play for Today' series. Written by Peter Ransley, it was a devastating portrayal of a 'medical accident', at time when #patientsafety was not part of the NHS's lexicon (a thread):
The film depicted Kay Gilbert (played by Paola Dionisotti), an illustrator and mother of two who goes to hospital for a routine sterilisation, only to become seriously ill when her bowel is perforated.
In hospital, her pain is dismissed and her calls for help are ignored. She is labelled a troublemaker and attention-seeker: 'Lady Muck'. Her pain is attributed to a side-effect of the surgery.
Fortunately, a second operation reveals the true cause of her pain, and her life is saved. However, this is only the beginning of Kay's story.
Kay is left in extreme discomfort and unable to work. Barristers are unwilling to take on the case without medical expertise, and Kay is forced to research the medical literature herself. Kay is unable to pay for legal justice and is denied legal aid.
In the end, Kay manages to find a medical expert willing to speak on her behalf, but the hospital decides not to defend the case. As often happened at the time, the case does not go to court, and Kay receives an out-of-court settlement.
A common strategy at the time was for hospitals to wait until patients ran out of money and gave up. They never planned to mount a defence.
While Kay eventually receives some financial compensation, the hospital always denied liability, and nothing is learned from the error.
The play was actually based on a real-life case: Stella Burnett. After the programme aired, the writer was inundated with phone calls from patients and family members who were also finding it difficult to secure compensation, or even an explanation of what had gone wrong.
The case inspired the writer, Peter Ransley and his wife to set up the charity Action for Victims of Medical Accidents (AvMA) - an organisation which today helps patients secure justice for medical negligence, and campaigns for patient safety.
The airing of 'Minor Complications' is an important moment in the history of #patientsafety, as increasing public and political attention to the cost of medical negligence claims against the NHS in the 1980s encouraged the development of clinical risk management.
By the 1990s, clinical risk managers were being employed throughout the NHS, as NHS Trusts assumed full financial liability for the cost of medical negligence (as opposed to medical defence organisations). The bureaucratisation of patient safety was beginning.
