Executive Summary
Development of a Comprehensive Legal System for Investigation of Medical Errors
from the group of experts to form an investigation committee. The committee
members shall be nominated based on the nature of the complaint and theposition of the person against whom the complainthas been submitted;the
committee’s chairperson shall be determined by a decision of theBoard of
Directors.
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The investigation committee shall submit its reports and recommendations
to the Board of Directors, which has the power to take the decision it deems
fit.
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If the Board of Directors decides that a medical error has been committed,
the patient shall be entitled to obtain compensation from the Medical Errors
Fund, to be established under legislation that determines the fund’s management, expenses and revenues. The fund’s revenues may be generated from
financial contributions by doctors and the Health Ministry, as well as from
contributions made by private hospitals on behalf of their health professionals. Pending the establishment of the fund, compulsory insurance shall be
introduced as a guarantee of compensation forpatients.
The committee pointed out that, in order to realizetheseproposals, Palestine
must catch up with the experiences of various Arab and foreign states in enacting independent laws for accountability formedical errors. That step is currently
hampered by a dysfunctional Legislative Council incapable of debating and approving draft laws on medical liability, particularly the formation of medical error
investigation committees and the provision of civil compensationfor damages
suffered by patients due to medical errors. Nevertheless, it is not acceptable that
we fail to devise the solutions necessaryto reduce cases of death and disability
that still occur at private and public hospitals, in particularby pursuing pertinent
and vital legislative procedures. Pending the enactment of an independent law
on medical liability that would address all the relevant issues, we propose the
following:
A: Medical error investigation committees
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A special system should be put in place for medical error investigation committees. The system should provide for selection procedures for these committees and their operational protocolsbased on the details outlined in the
AMAN proposal.Article 83 of the Palestinian Law of Public Health makesit
contingent on the cabinet to enact the procedures and executive by-laws
necessary for the the law to be implemented. These by-laws should includeprovisions on how to deal with complaints lodged by citizens under
Article 60 of the Palestinian Law on Public Health,which grantspatients the
right to lodge a complaintagainst a health institution or health professional.
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