Patients in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI, attending doctors and hospitals this summer are at increased risk of suffering injury as a result of medical malpractice according to a recent study.
The Globe and Mail reported that death rates increased between 8 and 34 percent in the month of July.
The cause of this significant increase in risk was not established, but it was reported to be, in part, as a result of the arrival of new doctors. July 1 is when newly graduated medical students officially becomes doctors and when many residents enter specialty training.
The various studies have unanimously demonstrated that patient care in the month of July is less efficient. The report notes: “Things that happen routinely, such as patients being prescribed wrong doses of medicine, duplicate and unneeded tests, and patients being discharged too quickly (or too slowly) tend to happen more often in July, when the new doctors arrive.”
Those injured as a result of the negligence of new doctors should understand that the standard of care to which they are held to is not dependant on their level of experience. Patients are entitled to receive the same standard of care, regardless of how long their doctor has been practicing.