Introduction

Medical Negligence is a legal term where a medical professional fails to uphold their standard of care towards a patient which results in a detrimental effect on their health (including complications with pregnancies or birth). Medical Negligence can include a poor treatment plan or a diagnosis which prescribes the wrong medication. Essentially, where a procedure has not gone quite to plan and there is evidence of a lack of professionalism by the medical professional in charge of managing your treatment.

 

Time constraints for medical negligence claims

Generally, a claim must be started within three years from when the negligent event occurred, or the date of when you initially discovered you had suffered harm or injury (there are exceptions to this rule). If the case involves children, then there are no time limits imposed on a claim until they reach 18. Additionally, a person who is deemed to be lacking the mental capacity required to claim by themselves will not be subject to time limits.

 

Examples of medical claims may include: -

• Accident and Emergency;
• Anaesthetic;
• Pregnancy and Childbirth;
• Misdiagnosis;
• Cosmetic Surgery;
• General Practitioner (GP) Negligence;
• Hospital Negligence; or
• Drug effect claims.

All of these scenarios may result in a claim for medical negligence.

 

How we can help

Our legal team would appoint a medical consultant to assist them in creating a claim. Please note we make no commission from these referrals but do need clients to open a case so that we can appoint them to assist. These consultants are privately contracted by us (and therefore their cost would be classed as a disbursement). The ultimate aim would be to get the trust to admit liability and confirm that your current condition has been left damaged in some way, admit the error and agree to a series of interim payments followed by a final settlement. The medical consultants will assess the entire situation. To address the claim element for mental trauma then we would suggest an additional report from our psychological team.

 

The claim will consider two types of damages:

• General damages- this compensates the victim for the pain and suffering endured, and for the loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the negligent act.
• Special damages- this compensates the victim for any personal costs incurred as a result of the negligent act. It can also cover any additional costs required in the future. This includes:
  • Costs of medication and treatment;
  • Loss of income and earnings; and the
  • Cost of additional medical apparatus.

 

To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link. Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and medical consultant and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.