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Medical Negligence claim

At some point in our lives, we all have to place our health and wellbeing in the hands of medical professionals, whether that be our family GP for a routine problem or a hospital surgeon after a life-changing event. We all deserve the highest level of care possible but sometimes, unfortunately, mistakes happen leading to injury or making an existing condition even worse. When something does go wrong, Metcalfe David Eyres can help you obtain the compensation you’re entitled to along with the justice you want.

Our medical negligence team will handle your claim with the utmost care and professionalism. We will always put your interests first, making certain that the most appropriate and effective legal action is taken to ensure that everything is concluded as quickly and smoothly as possible.

What is a medical negligence claim?

Healthcare providers are legally required to have in place professional indemnity insurance to cover them for when something goes wrong. Such instances can include:

  • misdiagnosis;
  • delayed diagnosis;
  • incorrect treatment;
  • surgery mistakes;
  • dental negligence;
  • poor nursing care, etc.

Claims arising out of these can sometimes take only a few months to reach a conclusion whereas complicated matters can take a number of years. However long it takes, we’ll be with you every step of the way.

How long do I have to make a medical negligence claim?

Claims for medical negligence can be made within 3 years of the incident taking place or, if a possible problem with treatment only becomes apparent later, within 3 years of your date of knowledge that your condition might have been caused by whoever treated you. Ideally, claims should be made sooner rather than later, while any attempt to claim after the 3 year period may well not be successful.

What happens in a medical negligence claim?

It’s vital to obtain expert legal advice at an early stage so that appropriate steps are taken to investigate your case fully at the first opportunity. Often evidence relies upon memory and it’s always a good idea to note down information as soon as you can whilst it’s still fresh in your mind. You should also look to put forward your own formal complaint to the person who treated you, as well as making the medical negligence claim.

After taking as much information as possible, we will prepare a detailed statement to document exactly what happened and the consequences of this before obtaining copies of your medical notes and records and then seeking an expert medical opinion about your treatment. We only use the best, fully independent, medical experts who objectively judge each case on its own merits so you can be sure of fairness at all times.

Once we have medical evidence to support your claim, a “letter of claim” will be sent to whoever is alleged to have caused the symptoms, accompanied by our evidence, with a view to their representatives carrying out their own investigations and then confirming whether they agree that compensation should be awarded, due to a “breach of duty” and the satisfying of “causation”.

Breach of duty and causation

For a medical negligence claim to be successful, you must show that the person who treated you caused or contributed to the symptoms that you suffered afterwards.

All healthcare professionals must exercise “reasonable” skill in performing their role to keep their patients safe from harm. This is known is the duty of care. If, by their actions, the person who was treating you makes a mistake, this can be them breaching their duty by failing to meet an acceptable care standard.

Just because there has been a mistake however does not automatically mean that compensation should be awarded; the breach of duty must have actually caused the symptoms that are being suffered. This is causation and is often referred to as the “but for” test – but for the healthcare professional’s actions, would the symptoms experienced not have occurred? If the symptoms would have happened anyway, the claim will fail. If the symptoms would not have happened but for the negligence, the claim will succeed.

Diagnosis and prognosis

Once a duty of care has been established, and it can be shown that this was breached, and that the breach caused the symptoms being complained of, there is then the value of the claim to consider. This is where further medical evidence is obtained, to document the actual consequences, considering the problems that are being suffered, being the diagnosis, and how long these symptoms are likely to go on for, being the prognosis.

The medical report here will provide sufficient information for it to be decided how much the symptoms are worth along with also looking at the out of pocket expenses that are related to them, such as loss of earnings, travelling expenses, private medical expenses, etc.

And if a settlement can’t be achieved…

If, having considered all of the evidence in support of the claim, the offending party still won’t provide compensation, we will be more than happy to take matters even further by issuing court proceedings. Medical negligence cases very rarely end up at court however, if yours does, you can be sure of an experienced legal expert by your side through every stage of the process, right up to the court steps, and into the final trial hearing, if that’s what it takes for you to obtain justice.

Your compensation is our priority

All that matters to us is winning you the maximum possible compensation. All insurers can be interested in is keeping the total payout low. That’s why if you suffer medical negligence you should obtain independent legal advice from Metcalfe David Eyres Sheffield or Chesterfield.

Call us now on 0114 249 3222 or 01246 555387 or send us an enquiry by filling out the form for the first step to the public liability compensation that you deserve.

Looking for a solicitor to assist you? Contact us today

0114 249 3222
01246 555 387