Medical Negligence Solicitors UK Co: Get Expert Help Today
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What Is A Medical Negligence Claim?
A claim could be made for medical negligence if you suffered harm or a worsening of a condition you wouldn’t have suffered if it weren’t for a medical professional’s failings. One of our medical negligence solicitors might be able to help you launch a claim if you can demonstrate that you meet the criteria.
Medical negligence occurs when a medical professional breaches the duty of care they owe to you. When you seek medical treatment, the healthcare professional or hospital automatically owes you a duty of care when agreeing to treat you. This means that they agree to take proper care to avoid causing harm that could otherwise be avoided by ensuring the treatment you receive meets a minimum standard.
Different medical professionals are expected to take different steps depending on what field they work in. For example, the General Medical Council (GMC) sets the standards that doctors are expected to follow. Whereas the General Pharmaceutical Council sets the standards for pharmacists. However, each professional involved in your treatment still owes you a duty of care.
In order to have good grounds to claim medical negligence compensation, you will need to prove that:
- A medical professional or facility owed you a duty of care.
- There was a breach of this duty.
- You suffered harm unnecessarily because of this breach.
Continue reading to find out how medical negligence solicitors can help with your claim.
How Can Our Medical Negligence Solicitors Help You?
Our medical negligence solicitors have many collective years of experience helping claimants secure compensation for the avoidable harm they suffered. The benefits of claiming with the support of an experienced medical negligence solicitor include:
- Help with collecting compelling evidence to support your claim.
- Important documents sent on your behalf.
- Explanations of complex legal jargon.
- Case status updates.
- Claim valuation to ensure that all damages are accounted for.
- Ensuring that your clinical negligence case is presented in full and within the time limits.
Speak with a team member to discuss how one of our medical negligence solicitors can help you claim compensation.
Learn More About Medical Negligence Claims
What Is The Claims Process Like For A Medical Negligence Claim?
To seek compensation for medical negligence, you need to follow the Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes. This could help resolve your claim without going to court. You will also need to file a formal complaint with the organisation responsible for the medical negligence. One of our medical negligence solicitors can help with the protocol. Steps included in making a clinical negligence claim include:
- Obtaining your medical records. These should be received within 40 days of the request. If they aren’t, you should expect an explanation for the delay.
- Letter of Notification. This is a notice to the defendant that you are likely to bring forward a claim.
- Letter of Claim. This details the breach of duty plus causation (for example, if the cancer had been caught earlier, the prognosis would be better). Additionally, copies of relevant records should be included as well as evidence. From this point, both parties can consider settling the claim.
- Letter of Response. The defendant must respond within 4 months. They may accept or deny liability or request further information that was not included with the Letter of Claim, ie, the relevant medical records or chronology wasn’t included.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The claim could be settled out of court, either with or without admitting liability. Negotiations could take place.
- Stocktake. Reviewing positions before court proceedings are issued.
Can You Claim If You Were Treated By A Private Hospital?
The Protocols discussed above apply to all claims against hospitals, GPs, dentists and other healthcare providers. The incident you are claiming for could have taken place in a private medical setting. As with all medical negligence claims, in order for it to be valid, it needs to meet the eligibility criteria discussed earlier.
Please speak to an advisor if you have any questions about the medical negligence claims procedure. They can also connect you to one of our medical negligence solicitors if you satisfy the eligibility criteria.
What Types Of Medical Negligence Can You Claim For?
There are various incidents that you could claim for. However, it is important to remember that you must have valid grounds to claim compensation, as discussed previously. Types of medical negligence include:
- Medication errors. You could be given the wrong medication, which can damage your internal organs. Additionally, being given the wrong dosage can also result in sickness and even permanent organ damage.
- Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis. This can occur if your GP fails to sufficiently consider your symptoms. You could be diagnosed and treated for a condition you do not have while your initial illness worsens.
- Unnecessary surgery. This could happen if your medical records are mixed up with those of another patient. It can lead to pain, discomfort and scarring.
- Birth injuries (to mother, baby or both). If the mother and baby are not properly monitored during labour, either one could suffer a birth injury. For example, if the baby does not have sufficient oxygen, they may suffer brain damage. The mother may suffer mental health damage during a traumatising birth as well as physical harm.
- Never-events. These are preventable serious incidents with specific guidance to try to prevent them. For example, wrong-site surgery. This is when the wrong body part is operated on, such as your left foot instead of the right.
- Fatal medical negligence. If a loved one dies due to medical malpractice, you could claim on their behalf. For example, if a misdiagnosis meant that their cancer became terminal, whereas it would have been treatable had they been diagnosed when initially presenting with symptoms.
Contact our advisory team to discuss medical malpractice and the harm you suffered. Additionally, if you meet the eligibility criteria and wish to proceed, you could be connected to one of our medical negligence solicitors.
How Long Do You Have To Make A Medical Negligence Claim?
As with all civil claims, your clincial negligence claim must adhere to the relevant time limits set by the Limitation Act 1980. For medical negligence claims, this is generally three years. This means that you have three years to file your claim.
However, this can be three years from the date of the incident or three years from the date of knowledge. Date of knowledge is the date that you first realised, or would have been expected to realise, that the harm you suffered was caused by medical malpractice.
One of our medical negligence solicitors can ensure that if you have a valid case, it is filed within the limitation period. Please continue to the next section to learn of exceptions to the time limit.
Can You Claim On Behalf Of A Loved One?
In some circumstances, there are exceptions to the three-year time limit discussed above. In these cases, you might be appointed by the court to act as a litigation friend and launch the claim on the harmed party’s behalf. These cases include:
- Those without the mental capacity to manage the medical negligence claims procedure themselves. For these parties, the limitation period is suspended for as long as they lack this capacity. During this time, a litigation friend can launch a claim for medical malpractice for them. However, if the person regains the mental capacity necessary to claim, then they will have three years from the date they recovered their capacity to begin the medical negligence claims process if one was not already made for them.
- Those under the age of 18 at the time of the incident. As with those without the mental capacity, a litigation friend can initiate the claims process on their behalf. However, if the harmed party turns 18 without a claim having been made for them, they will have three years from the date of their 18th birthday to start one.
Additionally, certain relatives can claim on behalf of a loved one if they died as a result of medical malpractice. Fatal medical negligence claims must be started within three years of their passing.
Contact our advisors to find out more about time limits and exceptions when launching a medical negligence claim on behalf of another party. If you meet the eligibility requirements and wish to proceed, you could be connected to one of our medical negligence solicitors who can help you get a claim started.
How Much Compensation For Medical Negligence?
If you make a successful claim for medical negligence, your settlement could consist of two parts. These are called general and special damages.
To compensate for the physical pain and injuries, along with any mental suffering caused by the incident, you will be awarded general damages. Those with responsibility for valuing pain and suffering, such as medical negligence solicitors, may refer to the guideline figures for different types of illnesses and injuries published by the Judicial College (JCG).
Our table below looks at a few figures that could be relevant to medical negligence claims. The first figure shows what compensation could be made up of if you suffer multiple illnesses and injuries of a serious nature plus special damages. The remaining figures are from the 16th edition of the JCG. As every successful claim is assessed on its individual merits, the table is only for guidance.
| Type of Harm | Severity | Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious illnesses and/or injuries plus expenses | Very severe | Settlements may include compensation for more than one serious illness or injury and expenses, such as lost wages. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe | The injured person needs nursing care on a full-time basis due to severe physical and cognitive disabilities. | £282,010 to £403,990 |
| Kidney Loss/Damage | Serious and Permanent | Both kidneys have either been lost entirely or suffered serious and permanent damage. | £169,400 to £210,400 |
| Bladder Functioning | Complete | The injured person suffers with the complete loss of control and function of their bladder. | Up to £140,660 |
| Lung Disease | Serious | Lung disease causing serious disability in a young person with the probability of premature death. | £100,670 to £135,920 |
| Hand | Loss of One Hand | The claimant has either suffered the total or effective loss of one hand. | £96,160 to £109,650 |
| Foot | Amputation | One foot required amputation and the loss of the ankle joint. | £83,960 to £109,650 |
| Female Reproductive Organs | Permanent | The claimant suffers likely permanent sexual dysfunction. They either have children already or would not have had children in any event. | £43,010 to £102,100 |
| Male Reproductive Organs | Permanent | The claimant suffers either impotence or significant sexual dysfunction (likely permanent). They already have children or wouldn’t have had them in any event. | £56,080 to £71,350 |
| Spleen | Loss | The claimant is at continuing risk of internal infection and disorders due to immune system damage. | £20,800 to £26,290 |
Additionally, you could be awarded special damages as part of your settlement. Special damages are awarded to compensate for the financial losses you suffered as a result of medical neglgience. You could recover money for:
- Your loss of earnings, including future losses.
- Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.
- Carer and nursing costs.
- Other home help, such as a cleaner while you recover.
To help recover your monetary losses, you should save proof of your expenses. For example, your wage slips and receipts. These can then be submitted as part of the medical negligence claims process.
If you would like to discuss how one of our medical negligence solicitors can help you recover compensation, please speak to one of our team members.
Why Use No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors To Claim?
If you meet the eligibility criteria to claim compensation, you may like to have the support of a solicitor specialising in medical negligence cases. One of our medical negligence solicitors could help with your claim. They typically provide their legal services under a type of No Win No Fee arrangement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
If your solicitor offers a No Win No Fee service, they:
- Won’t take payment upfront for their work on your case.
- Ask for you to pay any ongoing fees.
- Take payment for their services if your medical negligence claim fails.
- Take a legally limited success fee as a capped percentage from your awarded compensation only if your claim succeeds.
Contact Us For Free 24/7 To See If You Can Claim
If you would like to learn more about how one of our medical negligence solicitors could help you with your claim, talk to one of our advisors. As part of the no obligation service, an advisor from our team can:
- Assess the grounds of your claim.
- Check to make sure that you are within the time limits.
- Value your potential medical malpractice compensation.
- Give you free advice about the medical negligence claims procedure.
- Connect you to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors should you wish to proceed with a claim.
To get in touch, please call the number at the top of this page or fill in our claim online form to request a call back.
Read More About Working With Medical Negligence Solicitors
Here are some extra resources that could be useful when seeking compensation for medical negligence:
- Information about requesting a copy of your medical records from the NHS.
- Details about statutory sick pay, including the rates and how to apply from the government.
- Guidance on raising a concern with the General Medical Council, including where to seek further support and what happens if your complaint is investigated.
Contact an advisor if you have any further questions about medical malpractice claims, or if you would like to check your eligibility to be connected to one of our medical negligence solicitors.
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