Even in the best hospitals, mistakes are made. This can be anything from miscommunication to missed diagnosis. Even as subtle as misprescribing can occur. At the end of the day, human error is natural, but although this is common, extra care must be taken with nurses and doctors. That being said, a patient can also make an error in some instances. As long as you understand the common pitfalls, these can be avoided and therefore, take care of your own health. So, here are the top 10 most common mistakes in healthcare and how you can avoid them.

Miscommunication Between The Doctor and The Patient

One of the first mistakes is a common error from the patient when they are communicating their issues to the doctor. The doctor will often ask what the symptoms are, and in some cases, this can cause the patient to report their symptoms incorrectly or forget them. The best way to avoid this would be to keep a symptom diary. Making notes of the pain that you feel, when you feel it, and other issues you may have is essential, especially when the doctor is asking what your symptoms are. 

Avoiding Second Opinions

Another mistake is that people tend to avoid other opinions. Sometimes, patients will accept their doctor’s diagnosis and treat it as gospel, although that shouldn’t be the case, especially when the issue is still apparent. The best thing to do here is that if the cure or solution hasn’t been found, the patient should seek another opinion. There is no harm in going to another doctor if possible to seek additional medical assistance and see if they reiterate what the other doctor said. 

Not Following Up On Results

Just because you haven’t heard from the doctor doesn’t necessarily mean you are in the clear. Sometimes, a follow-up can be forgotten, which is obviously very bad, but there may have also been a technical error. Maybe the wrong phone number or contact details were recorded or filled in incorrectly. All of these can lead to you not receiving your results, so it is certainly something that is worth chasing. Message or ring them to ensure you get the results confirmed and get a copy of the results shared with you. 

Medication Errors 

This is also very common in the medical industry because of natural human mistakes. These types of errors can lead to incorrect dosage, confusion between brands, generic or missed allergies. In this instance, the patient needs to check what they have been prescribed, including checking the dosage. Additionally, it is worth keeping a medication list and consulting with your pharmacist to ensure that you are taking the correct medication. 

Ignoring Gut Feelings

Having a gut feeling about something is common, especially when it comes to your health. If you think something is incorrect, then question your doctor and ask other doctors for their opinion. Get clarification on why you are being given a certain medication and why you are feeling certain symptoms when taking a certain medication. 

Incomplete Medical History

Another common mistake in healthcare is an incomplete medical history. This could be anything, such as previous treatments, previous health conditions and family history. That is why it is important to keep up with your medical history, as well as keep records of your family members. 

Overlooking Preventive Care

Up next is avoiding preventive care. This can be regular screenings, checkups or even regular vaccinations. Missing these can cause further health problems, and that wouldn’t be on the healthcare system; that would be more on the patient. It is something that can be easily avoided as long as the patient goes. 

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Poor Record-Keeping

Another common mistake is poor record-keeping, and this can be anything, such as on a patient’s medical documents, the test results, and treatments. To ensure everything is recorded correctly, create your own personal health file to keep a record of your medical history, previous test results and what treatments you have. 

In some cases, it can be missed that a patient is diabetic. It is vital that the doctor knows about this because they won’t be able to prescribe certain medications, as they can affect blood sugar levels. The last thing you want is to be travelling with diabetes and then taking medication that negatively affects your blood sugar levels. 

Accepting Rushed Appointments

We all know that the healthcare industry is extremely busy, and therefore, doctors can tend to rush appointments. This is because they are either running late or they have an extremely busy day booked in. However, that doesn’t mean they should reduce their duty of care to you. Make sure you have questions that get answered to ensure there are no issues with your health. 

Summary

There are many reasons why a mistake can happen, but they can also be avoided if the patient is more aware. It is essential as a patient that you keep records of your medical history to reduce any errors in this. Then ensure you have a copy so you can show it to your doctor in the future. It is important that you are proactive and you always ask questions if you are ever unsure about what they are telling you. If you ever think that you have been neglected during your care, then it is also worth bringing this up with medical negligence solicitors, as you can be compensated.