Do I report my case to NPE or the county governor?
The county governor has authority to take action with regard to health personnel. NPE does not have this authority. We process applications for compensation and pay out compensation to those who are entitled to it.
Many claimants say that they do not want anyone else to have to go through what they have been through and that they want NPE to make sure that the doctor concerned is given a warning or reprimand. The county governor is responsible for this type of assessment and for giving feedback to health personnel.
In certain cases, the county governor may reprimand health personnel without there being any automatic right to compensation from NPE. This is because you must have sustained a treatment-related injury which causes you to incur a financial loss or permanent injury in order to be entitled to compensation. Cases are also assessed under different regulations by the county governor and NPE.
Compensation for patient injury
We consider claims for compensation from patients who have sustained an injury after being treated by the health service. The aim of the patient injury system is to ensure that patients who are treated incorrectly do not suffer any financial loss as a result.
When we investigate a case, the executive officer will consider whether there has been a failure of care and whether what has happened has caused the applicant to incur a financial loss.
Learning from mistakes
We always send a copy of our decision to the treatment provider, partly as feedback on the work of the treatment provider in order to bring about improvements. We want to help ensure that the health service learns from any mistakes that are made, but we do not have the authority to sanction health personnel who are involved in patient injuries.
Action against health personnel
If you do not wish to apply for compensation but would like someone to consider whether there are grounds for taking action against the health personnel who treated you, you must contact the county governor. The county governor will then consider possible action against the treatment provider. This could for example involve a reprimand, a written warning or even revocation of authorisation as a health professional.