How to claim for medical negligence

Doctors and nurses consistently rank as the most trustworthy professionals in surveys.

And while it’s true that the overwhelming majority of medical professionals do a fantastic job, things occasionally do go wrong.

In 2012 there were 14,171 claims in the UK for injury caused by a medical procedure. This was a 13% increase on the previous year and more than 40% on three years earlier.

While Britain has amongst the highest medical standards in the world, that's still a high number of compensation claims. For whatever reason, mistakes happen and the result can be serious injury or worse. When mistakes are made it is referred to as Clinical or Medical Negligence. Doctors and other medical professionals know they can make mistakes, which is why they all must have medical insurance.

Some illnesses or diseases may not be curable but no health worker or doctor's action should make the condition worse. If it does, a case for compensation is probably worth pursuing. Around 95% of Clinical Negligence cases are settled before getting to court.

So, if you are in this situation, speak to an experienced Medical Negligence lawyer as soon as possible. The average Clinical Negligence case takes about 16 months.

Medicine is a risky business and obviously not every poor outcome can be prevented. There are two basic tests used to see if a case of Clinical Negligence has occurred.

Firstly, did the medical professional act in a way that no similar professional would have done?

Secondly, would the harm not have happened if the procedure hadn't been done? In other words, was it what most doctors would have done and did it make things worse?

Getting answers may not be simple and will take someone with experience in this area of law to look at the circumstances and advise you.

An experienced solicitor will examine the facts and give you an opinion on whether to proceed or not, very quickly.

A report carried out by the NHS in 2012 showed that between 1995 and 2011 there were 25,867 negligence claims for surgical procedures and 13,095 for obstetrics and gynecology. The damages paid to patients, however, were reverse. Obstetrics and gynecology accounted for more than £5bn and for surgery more than £2bn over that period.

To win a case you must show that the medical expert or clinic caused the injury.

For example, birth injury claims. If a child is left with a brain injury, it has to be shown that, say, the doctor should have delivered the baby sooner.

If he didn't correctly look at all the reports or he failed to monitor the baby’s heartbeat and therefore didn't deliver the baby safely, there may well be a case to answer.

It's not just hospitals, clinics or specialists that cause Clinical Damages.

The claims against GPs have risen by 20%, in one report, over recent years. Wrong prescriptions, wrong dosages or even the wrong diagnosis can cause a lot of harm to patients. Failure to send patients to specialists in time is another major issue. There are ten times more claims of more than £1m against GPs than there were a fifteen years.

Most dentists and dental technicians are very good at what they do. Sometimes though they can make mistakes. Mistakes often result from the simplest of procedures like badly made dentures, poor fillings, root canal therapy, extracting the wrong tooth, and incorrectly managed tooth decay or gum disease.

Tooth implants are quite common these days but require specialised skills, so mistakes can happen. The sooner you act the better. When things go wrong in dentistry it can be really painful and expensive.

As a patient you do have rights. However, you should know that, that as soon as you are aware of Clinical Negligence you have only three years to begin an action.

Claims involving children should begin within three years of the child’s eighteenth birthday.

An exception would be if the claim were on behalf of someone with limited capacity to act (brain injury for example). For such cases there is no time limit.

This article is courtesy from The Mirror.