Medical Negligence Claims
Medical negligence and malpractice are when a patient has endured substandard care by a medical professional, which has directly caused the patient’s condition(s) to worsen. Medical negligence can happen in several ways, including:
- Delayed diagnosis
- Misdiagnosis
- Incorrect treatment
- Surgical mistakes
Medical mistakes do happen. Doctors, dentists and other medical professionals are only human and are insured if anything goes wrong. Some professionals do fall short of the standard expected from them, which can lead to suffering and, in worst-case scenarios, the death of a patient.
If you have suffered medical negligence, contact our solicitors to start your claim.
You can make a compensation claim if you suffer a personal injury due to medical negligence. This is a specialist area, and we will put you in touch with experts and dedicated clinical negligence solicitors in Liverpool.
Contact Us Now To ClaimThe Process — Types of Damages — Common Negligence
Recall Letter — Example Cases — Make a Claim
The Process of Making a Negligence Claim
Medical negligence claims can be long and complex, so you should appoint a specialist to handle the case. We will take care of every stage of the claim journey to reduce the hassle and ensure your time is better spent elsewhere. The process of making a claim often involves the following steps.
1. Consult a Solicitor
Stage one of making a negligence claim is to contact a solicitor firm for advice. They play a significant role in helping you win your claim and get the maximum compensation available, so it’s essential to seek a company with expertise in medical negligence, proven accreditations, clear communication and a strong reputation. You should arrange a no-obligation consultation where they will be interested in hearing the case details, including why you think you might have a claim and how the incident has affected your life. The medical negligence solicitors will advise whether or not you have a case, covering points such as time limitations and eligibility. They will also explain the process and what funding and support is available to you. Professional firms, such as ourselves, will only charge solicitor fees if your case is successful by working on a no-win, no-fee basis. If you are happy to proceed, you can appoint the solicitors to manage the claim.
2. Gathering Evidence
With the solicitors on board, they will start building a solid case. This stage involves collecting valuable evidence proving the other party was liable while bolstering your chances of achieving the maximum compensation. The solicitors will obtain medical records, witness statements, evidence of injuries and how they have affected your life. You have a right to access medical records; if they are not immediately available, the solicitors can go through the legal process of receiving them. Records can help see what providers were involved in your healthcare and evidence of negligence, such as a missed diagnosis or incorrect treatment. The evidence must show that there was a breach of duty with the care you received, which resulted in harm to yourself. The solicitors will usually have an independent medical expert examine you to provide a neutral viewpoint on your treatment and how it may have contributed to your harm.
3. Valuing the Claim
Having thoroughly analysed the case, the medical negligence solicitors will value your claim based on the evidence collected and how the incident has affected you. The valuation will consider the pain and suffering you endured alongside expenses like loss of earnings, medical care and travel costs. The compensation valuation is affected by the severity of injuries, the impact on your quality of life, age and life expectancy, and financial losses. The solicitors will provide an estimate of how much you may receive, which will be used as the baseline for settlement negotiations.
4. Taking the Case to the Defendant
When the solicitors have gathered evidence, determined the liability percentage, and valued the claim, they will submit a formal Letter of Claim to the defendant. This document outlines the alleged negligence, injuries, supporting evidence and the compensation valuation. The other party must then outline their position via a Letter of Response, stating whether they admit or deny liability and providing evidence based on their investigations. If they accept liability, representatives for both parties will negotiate a fair payout based on the evidence. If liability or the proposed settlement is disputed, the case may go to the court, where a judge will make the final decisions. Most claims are settled without the need for court interference. If a claim goes to court, your solicitors will help you prepare and remain at ease.
5. Receive Your Compensation
If you win your medical negligence claim, you can now relax and begin to prepare to move on with your life. The solicitors will advise you on how your compensation will be paid and when to expect it. In most cases, we expect compensation to be delivered within a month. Compensation is usually paid for by the provider’s insurance company or the NHS Resolution, so you don’t have to worry about potentially not receiving the money or how it will affect individuals or local institutions.
Contact Us Now To ClaimTypes of Damages You Can Claim
An exact number cannot be placed on the payout for a successful medical negligence claim for compensation. This is due to how claims are given based on damages. A payout is intended to get you back to the quality of life you had previously before the incident occurred. The payout is to compensate for the suffering you’ve endured.
Two types of damages are calculated when making a medical negligence claim:
- General Damages – Compensates you for the pain and suffering you have endured due to what you have been through. Damages here typically fall into the fixed ranges, the worse the case the higher the amount.
- Special Damages – Covers financial losses you’ve experienced as a direct result of what you have been through. These are entirely circumstantial, depending on the injury’s impact on your life. The types of losses covered include loss of earnings due to inability to work, medical expenses, and travel to and from medical appointments.
Common Types of Medical Negligence We Can Help With
When you go to a medical professional for a problem, you expect a standard of care that prioritises your well-being. However, mistakes can happen, and the consequences can be devastating. Our medical negligence solicitors have helped victims get compensation for various cases, from delayed diagnosis to surgical mistakes. Here are some common types of medical negligence that we can handle to help you recover and get compensation.
Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis
A delay in treatment due to a misdiagnosis or late diagnosis can result in more significant harm to the patient and in the most severe of cases, prove fatal. This type of medical negligence is most common and dangerous for cancer cases. Medical professionals must undertake early detection and treatment to provide the best possible outcomes. With any undue delay, the outlook may amount to unnecessary stress and possibly increase harm to the patient. You can make a compensation claim if an unreasonable delay occurs in a diagnosis or treatment.
Incorrect Treatment
Closely linked with the delayed diagnosis example discussed above, medical negligence can also occur when professionals have failed in their duty of care to patients when treating them for any illness or injury. They must provide suitable and safe treatment for you and ensure it will effectively treat your diagnosis. Incorrect treatments can be when medical professionals from either the NHS or private healthcare incorrectly treat you, such as a misdiagnosis or accidentally providing the wrong prescription, which directly causes you to suffer further. For example, if you were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but issued treatment for stomach cancer, which worsened your condition, you would be able to claim via our medical negligence solicitors.
Surgical Mistakes
Medical professionals are only human, and mistakes can happen. Unfortunately, in their profession, a mistake can be proven to have significant consequences on their patients. Surgical mistakes are also called ‘surgical negligence’, which refers to preventable errors or negligent actions medical professionals take before, during or after surgery. This applies to both NHS and private practices. The critical factor in these cases is to recognise that following most operations, patients will likely experience pain, discomfort, and distress while recovering. Some swelling, fluid leakage and limited mobility in the area that has been operated on is expected and would have been disclosed in the consent form signed by the patient before the surgery. However, if the patient is experiencing symptoms more severe than those disclosed or other symptoms, the patient may be entitled to claim medical negligence.
Birth Injuries
Welcoming your child into the world is always a joyous but nervous occasion for parents. Modern childbirth uses advanced solutions and trained professionals, ensuring that most deliveries are done safely and successfully. Unfortunately, mistakes can happen, and the doctors, nurses and midwives helping to deliver your baby may fail to meet the standards required to protect the mother and the child. Babies may suffer injuries like cerebral palsy and neonatal death, while mothers can experience issues such as tears, pre-eclampsia and maternal death. Examples of negligence that can cause a birth injury include not addressing fetal distress, improper use of delivery instruments, or delays in performing a C-section.
Dental Negligence
Whether you are attending an NHS clinic or a private centre, the dental surgeon and their team have a duty of care when performing routine checkups and advanced procedures. Negligence can result in harm or injury to the patient, such as pain, nerve injuries, tooth loss, or disfigurement. Dental negligence may include misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of oral conditions, performing unnecessary or incorrect dental procedures, or improper use of anaesthesia. Patients who have suffered from malpractice caused by a dental professional have the right to see compensation.
Contact Us Now To ClaimWhat is a Patient Recall Letter?
A Patient Recall Letter is a formal communication sent by a healthcare provider, such as a hospital or GP, asking them to book an appointment to be re-examined. There are various reasons why a recall letter might be sent out, such as if your recent test results are abnormal, concerns about the surgery or treatment you recently received, or if the behaviour of the professional treating you has been identified as below the expected standard. During your visit, the healthcare provider may want to conduct further tests, explain why you were recalled, and discuss your options.
Contact Us Now To ClaimExamples of Clinical Negligence Cases
Below, we have listed several real-life examples of clinical negligence cases, highlighting different scenarios in which patients have found themselves and the compensation they received following the malpractice.
Injury Following a Visit to the Dentist
The claimant, a 34-year-old woman, received £21,115 for the injuries to her teeth. The dentist proposed to crown several of the claimant’s teeth, but she sustained an injury during treatment when the crowns became loose. She had 20 teeth removed, had many teeth re-cemented and wore dentures. The claimant’s top lip also “sunk in” due to the tooth extractions.
Unsuccessful Laser Eye Treatment
The claimant, a 43-year-old man, received £500,000 for the severe vision impairment sustained during laser eye treatment in 1998. The claimant could not drive or return to his employment and required assistance from others in his day-to-day activities. He could see very little, and his vision was variable daily. The claimant had always suffered from a lazy eye and myopia and required remedial treatment. The claimant underwent laser treatment for both eyes.
Hip Replacement Went Wrong
The claimant, a 66-year-old man, received £10,000 for right leg and hip injuries when the hip prosthesis had not been straightly inserted following total hip replacement surgery in November 2000. The claimant suffered from ongoing pain in his back and hips, his mobility was impaired, and he was unable to dress unaided. He was told that he was suffering from fractures that had been caused by the replacement shifting and the cracking of his right femur. The claimant was re-admitted to the hospital, and he underwent a second hip replacement with a longer prosthesis.
Misdiagnosis of a Psychiatric Illness
Medical negligence solicitors helped the claimant, a 32-year-old man, receive £17,200 in respect of additional time spent in psychiatric units during 1998. The claimant had suffered an acute relapse in his psychiatric condition following the discontinuance of medication based on a misdiagnosis of his condition.
Baby Injured at Birth
The claimant, a 3-year-old girl, received £75,000 for arm and shoulder injuries sustained during her birth in 1998. During delivery, the claimant’s arm and shoulder became trapped in her mother’s cervix for approximately 17 minutes. Staff at the defendant’s hospital had to break the claimant’s collar bone for the birth to continue, causing the claimant injury. The claimant was permanently disabled, and she was severely restricted in her choice of employment in the future.
Injury to Ureter Following Hysterectomy
A 45-year-old woman received £40,000 by way of an out-of-court settlement for the severe damage sustained to her left ureter following a hysterectomy operation in 1997. She suffered from regular bouts of pyelonephritis and was unable to continue working full-time.
Failed Heart Operation
The claimant, a 21-year-old woman, received £450,000 for the internal injuries sustained during a heart repair operation (when she was 6 years old) in May 1986. The claimant underwent a heart repair operation at the hospital, and during surgery, the claimant’s aorta was ruptured, causing injuries which worsened her condition.
Surgical Tool Left in Woman’s Abdomen for 18 Months
In another alarming example of a surgical mistake, a surgical tool was left in a woman’s abdomen for 18 months. As reported by the BBC, a New Zealand doctor left an object inside a woman after she gave birth. The woman was having a Caesarean section to deliver her baby, which required the use of an Alexis wound retractor. This tool is the size of a plate and is used to hold open wounds during surgery. The retractor should have been removed after surgery, but this was not the case, and it was left in the woman’s abdomen for 18 months. Following the procedure, she experienced severe pains and made several trips to her GP and A&E until the object was identified and removed.
The three cases below provide further examples of medical cases that have gone to court and have won in favour of the claimant. These cases can give you an idea of the successful claims when claiming medical negligence.
Case | Description |
Darnley v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 2018 | Darnley v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust [2018], the claimant, Mr Darnley, had sustained a head injury and attended A&E with a friend. He was told by one of the receptionists in the A&E department that he would have to wait up to four or five hours before being seen. |
Khan v MNX 2018 | Mother, M, had expressed her concerns with her GP that she wanted to avoid having a child with haemophilia and sought advice due to the presence of haemophilia in her family medical history. Blood tests were carried out to determine if M had haemophilia, but the tests were unable to detect if she was a carrier of the condition. |
ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and others 2017 | In ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and others [2017], the courts were asked to consider difficult questions concerning the conflict between patient confidentiality and avoiding risks to others. |
Make a Claim for Medical Negligence
If you believe you have suffered due to your medical professional’s malpractice, contact us, R. James Hutcheon Solicitors, the clinical negligence solicitors in Liverpool. You can reach us at 0151 724 7121 or by completing our contact form. We will respond within the hour or at whatever time you prefer.
We have over 20 years of experience dealing with medical negligence claims and pride ourselves on our ability to deliver for our clients constantly. Please contact our leading Liverpool medical negligence solicitors today.