Personal injuries

Compensation can only be paid for personal injuries. Personal injury usually refers to bodily injury, death or other form of personal injury.

From the point of view of the Patient Injuries Act or the Patient Insurance Act, a personal injury can be specified as a temporary or permanent impairment of the patient's physical or mental health.

The person's suffering cannot be compensated for as a personal injury under patient insurance.

1) Inappropriate treatment

A patient treated at the inpatient ward of a health centre submitted a notice of injury to the Patient Insurance Centre due to inappropriate treatment by a nurse, which had caused him distress. According to the patient, the nurse had called him offensive names and behaved hostilely towards the patient.

This could not be considered a personal injury referred to in the Patient Injuries Act and thereby eligible for compensation under patient insurance.

2) Mental suffering

The son of a patient who had died of cancer sought compensation under patient insurance as he was of the opinion that the applicant's mother, who was in a weak condition, should not have been told that she had metastatic incurable cancer. According to the son's view, telling his mother about the disease had caused his mother unnecessary mental suffering during her last days.

However, the patient had not suffered a personal injury referred to in the Patient Injuries Act, so no compensation was paid.