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Hopefully most of us won’t need to know what medical negligence is, but as doctors are only human, it is likely that medical mistakes will continue to happen.
When lawyers talk about medical negligence, we are referring to carelessness, or substandard care, that has been provided by a medical professional to a patient, which has directly caused injury, or has caused an existing condition to get worse.
Medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients, to provide treatment that is in line with the medically accepted standard of care. They are judged by the standards expected of a reasonably competent and skilled health care professional with a similar background, working in the same field of medicine.
However, not all cases of medical negligence result in a successful claim for compensation. If there is no injury, or the poor care was not the cause of the problem, then we would not advise making a claim.
Just like a car driver who runs a red light, but doesn’t crash as a result, whilst he will be negligent, it is unlikely that a claim for compensation will be made against him, a doctor can provide substandard care, or make mistakes that others wouldn’t have made, but if the patient’s health isn’t affected there won’t be a successful claim.
If you are owed a duty of care, and the medical professional is negligent, and you suffer avoidable symptoms that we can connect back to the substandard care, then you should receive compensation.
Some mistakes are so serious, and preventable that the NHS accept there is no excuse. These mistakes are known as Never Events and include leaving foreign objects such as bolts and swabs inside a patient or treating the wrong part of the body. Making a claim for compensation in these circumstances should be straightforward if there has been an injury.
If the mistake isn’t a Never Event, we will need to send all your medical notes, and a detailed statement of the issues to an independent medical expert, asking that expert to consider whether there has been a breach of the duty owed to you.
If the report is supportive, we would then look to get a report on Causation (the link between the breach of Duty and the avoidable harm that you have suffered).
Whilst claims can be complicated, this is something that we have been helping clients with for years, and we are happy to listen to what you have been through, explaining how we can help, if we can.
Our Nicholson Jones Sutton Solicitors Medical Negligence Specialists are sympathetic, understanding, and can help you get the outcome you deserve.
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