Is It Better to Disclose or Conceal Medical Error When Occur? An Indicative Study from Sohag Governorate Physicians

Abstract

Background:Introduction: Medication errors as one of the commonest medical problems in hospitals are a leading cause of patient morbidity. Subjects and methods: three hundreds (300) doctors of different degrees were asked to fulfill the attached questionnaire about medical malpractice (causes, types, preventive measures) and their opinion about disclosure or concealing the errors. Results: The studied subjects included variable age groups, with range from 25 to 65 years old. The major cause of medical malpractice reported by the participants was deficient skills 45%, followed by poor contact with patients (35%). Other reported causes are due to stress and work overload (25%). Twelve percent were due to poor team work arrangement. Only 23.7% of doctors decide to disclose their errors and 76.3% prefer to hide the medical errors. The most common error reported by participants was diagnosis errors (23.6%), and then delayed transfer in 21%. The outcome of patients secondary to error was minor in 72.6% and death occurred only in 4.67%. The most reported suggested measure (51%) for prevention of error recurrence was referral of difficult cases followed by performing risky procedures in qualified hospitals (42.6%) and then to encourage doctors to disclose their error 41.3%. Conclusion: The current study concluded that the main causes of medical errors were poor contact with patients and deficient skills. The most common mentioned errors were surgery in non-equipped place, unethical conduct and diagnosis error. The participants' response was avoiding similar situations and increase information to prevent recurrence. The majority of participating doctors chose concealing the errors to avoid loss of reputation Recommendations: Close monitoring of residents and adequate communication between staff and regularization of duty hours can decrease occurrence of errors. Legal protection for doctors and patients can encourage doctors to disclose their errors.