ABSTRACT
This chapter summarises the book’s main findings and explains the contribution that the book has made to this body of literature. The present research has found that features of substantive criminal law and criminal procedure play a considerable role in the criminalisation of healthcare malpractice in France and England and Wales. The study provided additional evidence to argue that to a large extent, the general aims and functions of the criminal law are not achieved by its use in cases of healthcare malpractice where no culpability could be proved. However, the criminal law should have a role when individual, professionals, decision-makers and institutions have shown a disregard for the health and safety of patients. Key lessons to be drawn from the present study are that the criminal process alone is not an appropriate way to learn from mistakes and ensure safety. There is a pressing need to improve preventive mechanisms, to ensure that healthcare failure does not recur in the future, and to provide reparation to victims outside the use of the criminal process.
