Mistakes are common in medicine – whether they be delays in diagnosis, prescribing errors or the many other types of errors we encounter on a day to day basis.
I think the first and most important step in dealing with error is to contact either your supervisor or your medical indemnity provider, and discuss the issue with them. Following this discussion, embarking on open disclosure with the patient is an important second step to acknowledge and address the error.
Finally, encouraging your patient to discuss the error with you or with an independent patient advocate is an important step in finalizing the management of the error, and ensuring that the patient is satisfied with the outcome. More information on this process will be available from your medical indemnity provider.