Other // Medical Case Study
Introduction
As based from the case study, the scenario is centered towards Dr. Jayant Patel. The main issue is that he has a pending legal and ethical case being filed by the patients whom he was involved with. Patel made several counts of manslaughter charges, which is a case that could revoke his license as a physician. The case is not only one, but there are more than a dozen individuals who have been negligently abused by him over his alleged medical scandals from his previous workplace. But now that he is experiencing similar issues in his current workplace, other workers and relatives of his patients who died called him names. The most famous name that these individuals call him is “Dr. Death”. He was already convicted with at least three countrs of manslaughter and then one count of grievous bodily harm. He was sentenced to imprisonment; however, it was not clear if his license was revoked after the conviction from his professional-related issues.
(1) The case is all about a medical case study that is dealing with the ethical and legal standards of health care institutions. Basically, it is all about the medical jurisprudence that can be relating with the scenarios in health care institutions. The case is specifically centered towards the case of Dr. Jayant Patel who was assigned to work and live in Australia as a surgeon. Jayant Patel was assigned to Bundaberg Hospital in Queensland to practice his profession. The main issue is about his past medical and professional record wherein he was and currently involved in serious medical, legal, and ethical offenses. Some offenses are hideous that risks his professional record. As for the culture, being professional and competitive is always a required factor as a way to become reliable. Working in health care institution needs a comprehensive professional skill and knowledge to perform efficiently and accurately.
(2)The clinical governance processes in health care institution and environment is a comprehensive issue. This covers up about credentialing, QA/QI, and accreditation, which is an important process to maintain the level of competency to the world of professional services in the community. Credentials aims to identify the proper documents that a professional should possess, which are their school transcripts, license, identification, and police records to determine if they are ethically and legally fit for the job. QA/QI is all about the level of skill assessment applied for the professional, which is crucial for every institution to screen applicants before they will hire the most valued candidate for the job. Accreditation is also important because it determines if the person has been working in a hospital so that it will let the administrators know how well you are going to be when being hired in the health care institution as a licensed physician.
(3) Complaints regarding deaths and complications has been reported but then ignored by the staff where Dr. Patel works. His existing legal and ethical case is the three counts of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm. This is regarded as a serious offense because there are already several counts and there are other unreported issues that could pose a threat to other individuals. These are permanent legal and ethical issues that the new hospital where Dr. Patel should take into consideration. Given that Dr. Patel is regarded as a potentially dangerous physician, the hospital should reconsider his employment status due to his existing legal charges filed. Dr. Patel is still held liable from his past ethical actions from his former place because there is an international police cooperation that could haunt him from other countries that could send him back to the United States in order to face the charges.
(4) If you are going to utilize the scale of 1 – 10 wherein the scale of 10 is the worst and the scale of 1 is the greatest, Dr. Patel can be regarded to be in the scale of 10. This is basing from his current legal and ethical charges being filed and then convicted him. The problem is that the current hospital where he is currently employed has yet to identify his previous medical records. His work ethics is considerably horrible as he was found to be guilty for several charges. Dr. Patel is also negligent when handling patients under critical condition. Sooner or later, the physician will be held liable to his previous ethical and legal cases that have been disrupted because he moved from the United States to Queensland. This is a concern because he might commit similar mistakes in the future with the health care institution.
As a result, there will be a low-involvement consumer feedback because consumers, which are patient, will no longer be engaging with the health care services of the hospital or any connection with its services. Patients believe that with the current legal and ethical case of Dr. Patel, they feel that their health will be further compromised by his actions. Instead of seeking for a comprehensive and high-quality medical attention, the patient might be at risk for damages such as injuries caused by the negligence of the physician. As a hospital, you will be concerned when there are employees who have had their professional credibility compromised such as having an active pending criminal case filed in a certain court. You will determine that even if the case of the doctor is regarded confidential, the situation will provoke intimidation among other patients who will discover about the current ethical situation of Dr. Patel.
(5) Pertaining with the complaints managed from patient, there are involved patients who filed for legal and criminal charges towards Dr. Patel. The courts filed 3 counts of manslaughter and one count of bodily harm. Among others, there are previous investigations that are also under scrutiny by the management of previous hospital where Dr. Patel worked before. Criminal courts responsible for handling his case are also pursuing a safety and ethical risk for any future institution that will be employing Dr. Patel. This is a very serious case and should be always taken into consideration, knowing that previous patients suffered from injuries after the operation. Dr. Patel should resolve his existing and pending ethical and legal complaints first before resuming working as a professional licensed physician because these cases will not let him go away until it is settled immediately.
(6) Incident management systems are a process wherein employee should always document their activities applied to all patients. This is a permanent record for the purpose of detailing professional services applied to the patients and other hospital workers. Another purpose is to integrate and strengthen cooperation with other health care workers by endorsing existing medical procedures so that the next hospital personnel on duty will be able to continue what has been left behind by the outgoing personnel. Employees are always documenting all activities and services, in which it always serves as reference for future ethical and legal purposes in the future. If there are inconsistencies or violations that have been involved such as the issues committed by Dr. Patel, he will be obliged to present an incident report regarding his past activity involving his patient’s manslaughter charges. Dr. Patel is also required to undergo scrutiny to defend his position regarding his past ethical and legal issues from other hospital institution.
(7) With regards to open disclosure policy, this involves the current medical, legal, and ethical issues involving the current situation of every employee. This includes pending legal cases, health issues, and personal issues that might affect an employee’s status as part of the workplace environment roles. The only thing that will be spared from this issue is all about the health issue because it is the right of the patient to work even they are working with disability without informing the institution. The hospital where Dr. Patel is currently working has the right to secure the facility as well as other employees. This is because there is an existing ethical issue surrounding the competency of Dr. Patel, which could degrade the reputation of the hospital’s security issues from the patients while seeking for an immediate health care intervention. This involves comprehensive analysis, scrutiny, and investigation regarding the professional image of Dr. Patel not only from his current experience but from his previous employment records.
(8) Transparency policy is a process wherein all institutions from either public or private are required to show all possible facts about their facilities, policies, and personnel. This is to prevent any risks that will reduce intimidation and fear from the society such as the patients. Financial statements are also disclosed to the public so that the patients will know how the hospital is currently operating. All plans and accomplished projects of the hospital are also disclosed to the public so that the patients will see any improvement that the hospital is currently taking advantage of it. Satisfying the best interest of the society plays an important role because it serves as an inspiration to other hospital institutions within the community to become a role model. Being transparent shows that the institution complies with the requirements and standards imposed by the local government that prevents any ethical or legal issues.
It has been learned that the case of Dr. Patel should not be taken for granted because he has already been convicted with three counts of manslaughter and one count of bodily harm. As for the basis of limiting the license of physician, any violating professional are all at risk for losing their license. No matter how their personality works to ensure that they can continue their profession, they are already regarded as high risk for patients. Health care quality is an important consideration that the hospital should apply. This ensures that the image and the dignity of the hospital institution become reliable and credible to the community in the long term. Dr. Patel may soon be convicted with another case because he might be facing misdemeanor charges because he might be working with his revoked license. This is a big blow to the current hospital institution because they are employing a high risk stakeholder that can tarnish the institution’s image.
As for the recommendation, it is always the right of every institution to secure the safety and security of their institution. Profile checking of all employees’ past employment background is very helpful to ensure that they are working with the institution without hiding any ethical or legal issues. IF there are any inconsistencies with regards to the performance of the employee, proper investigation should be applied to ensure that the employee or stakeholder’s past ethical and legal background is identified. As an administrator, thoroughly checking the information of the employee will ensure that the credibility of their credentials should be observed before allowing them to work with the institution sometime in the future. It is better to take all precautionary measures than to experience problems that might destroy the reputation of the workers sometime in the future as mentioned by Fischer & Ferlie (2013).
Reference
Fischer, Michael D.; Ferlie, Ewan (2013). “Resisting hybridization between modes of clinical risk management: Contradiction, contest, and the production of intractable conflict”. Accounting, Organizations and Society. 38 (1): 30–49. doi:10.1016/j.aos.2012.11.002.
2017/5024
