Medical & clinical negligence solicitors

Medical negligence FAQS

• Why claim for clinical negligence?

  The purpose of compensation for medical negligence is to try to get you back to the place in your life you would have been in before you suffered the injury (as far as that may be possible). Compensation may be needed to cover the cost of your care needs, to purchase aids and equipment and to make alterations to your home Your injury may also mean that you can no longer work in the role you were in before your injury, compensation can help to ease that financial strain.

  While any amount you receive can never undo the damage caused, it does have the potential to restore your financial and emotional wellness. It can also give you the best possible opportunity to move forward with your life.

  In addition, clinical negligence compensation claims can help you to find out what happened, what went wrong and why and bring about positive change to prevent the same mistakes being made in the future.

• How often does clinical negligence occur?

  It is hard to put an exact number on how many cases of medical negligence occur each year. This is because there are instances where genuine accidents do occur, but not necessarily as the result of negligence. In a very few cases, such as that of disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson, harm is deliberately caused. The role of our solicitors is to gather all of the necessary evidence to establish whether there has been any negligence and if so what impact this has had on your outcome. If negligence is established our solicitors will pursue a claim for you to recover compensation for your losses and to cover the costs of your future needs.

  Clinical negligence is more common than you’d think. There are thousands of claims made each year, with NHS Resolution receiving 10,678 clinical negligence claims in 2018/19.  That means you won’t be alone if you think you have a claim and decided to pursue it.

  Of those claims, emergency medicine is the speciality that accounts for the largest number – representing 13% of the total number of claims made against the NHS in England. This was followed by orthopaedic surgery (12%) and obstetrics (10%).

  It is important to bear in mind this is just an overview for one time period, the numbers can change from year to year – depending on the type of injuries to patients as a result of negligent care.

• What is the time limit for making a medical negligence claim?

  In most cases, you’ll have three years from the date you suffered your injury to make a medical negligence claim. This is referred to as the “limitation date”. If you don’t issue court proceedings before the limitation date expires you may be prevented from bringing a claim. Determining your limitation date can be difficult because it can depend on your circumstances and the facts of your claim. It might be that an injury or illness caused by medical negligence is not diagnosed until sometime after you received the treatment. If this is the case, the three-year limitation period may be deemed to run from the date you were aware that you had suffered the injury – your “date of knowledge”, which may be a much later date than you received the treatment.

  If you suffer medical negligence as a child, your 3-year limitation period will not start to run until your 18th birthday. A litigation friend, which may be a parent or other suitable adult can bring a claim on behalf of the child whilst they are under 18.If you or a loved one does not have the mental capacity to bring a claim there may not be a time limit in which to bring a claim.

  If you or a loved one has suffered an injury or illness, talk to us as soon as possible and we can tell you if you could make a medical negligence claim.

• What does a claim need to include?

  To make sure you have a successful claim, our lawyers must prove that – on the balance of probability – the care/ treatment you received was negligent. The care/treatment will be found to be negligent if it fell below the standard expected of a competent healthcare provider working in that particular area of medicine at that time. If it can be established that there was a “breach of duty” in the standard of the care that you were provided it is also necessary to prove that this breach of duty caused or materially contributed to your injury and resulted in a loss.

  Our team has expertise in dealing with medical negligence cases across all fields of medical practice which means that we can provide key medical negligence advice and make sure that you know exactly what the position is at every stage of the claims process.

• Will I have to go to court?

  Most cases are settled without the need to go to court. But if your claim does go through the court process, we will manage that for you and guide, support and advise you throughout.

  The process itself can take some time, however – particularly for medical negligence claims as the cases can be complex and can also be fiercely contested.

  How long it takes to conclude your claims depends on several factors, such as how complex your case is and your individual needs. We can tell you how long we expect it to take as it progresses – but this can change. In general, it can be anything from a few months to a few years.

• How to make a claim with Shoosmiths
  To start the claims process with us, get in touch and talk to one of our team. One of our expert clinical negligence solicitors will assess your claim and let you know whether we can help you and if we can, we will discuss with you how the claim can be funded including the option of no win no fee.
• How much does it cost to make a claim?

  When you first speak to us about your injury, your initial consultation with us is free of charge. It’s at this stage that we’ll learn more about the details of your medical negligence claim.

  We’ll then be able to discuss with you what funding options are available to you and advise you on the most suitable funding option to meet your needs, which will include discussing a no win no fee arrangement. Our guide to funding your claim explains the different options available.

• What to do next
  If you’ve suffered due to clinical negligence, speak to our specialist lawyers today. Call us or send us a message to start your claim. We’ll explain the next steps, help you get the compensation for medical negligence you deserve and continue to support you in the years to come.