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Medical Negligence Compensation

If you or a member of your family is suffering from a personal injury caused by medical negligence, our specialist personal injury lawyers may be able to help you claim compensation. Contact us today on 0800 032 8511 for claim advice, or by completing a claim enquiry form.

Medical Negligence Cases

Who Can Make a Medical Negligence Claim?

Types of Clinical Negligence Claim
How to Begin a Clinical Negligence Claim

Costs of Making a Clinical Negligence Claim

Further Medical Negligence Information

Making an NHS Complaint
Medical Negligence Compensation Claim
Specialist Medical Negligence Lawyers

Client Testimonials

Medical Negligence Cases

Most of us, at one time or another, have to put our trust in medical professionals. The vast majority of treatments are beneficial to us and we are treated correctly and competently. Unfortunately however, this is not always the case and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of avoidable ‘medical accidents’ occur each year in hospitals and primary care facilities across the UK.

Clinical negligence is the term used to describe treatment by a medical professional that has fallen below the accepted standards of care. If this has caused an adverse effect, then the individual affected should be able to claim medical negligence compensation.

Often ‘adverse events’ are not investigated, as people are told that they were unavoidable occurrences or normal complications and they accept this as correct. Making a complaint or claim through the NHS can be a complicated and confusing matter without the assistance and advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer.

It is not uncommon for initial complaints to be met with a lengthy response about what happened without any explanation as to why it happened and for that to be followed by a denial of liability. If a claim for medical negligence compensation is issued however, an error may well be subsequently admitted.

Luckily things are now beginning to improve and the complaints procedures within the NHS are encouraging more comprehensive and open answers to complaints. There is however, still a long way to go.

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Who Can Make a Medical Negligence Claim?

If you have received sub-standard medical care and this has caused an adverse effect, you may seek to claim medical negligence compensation.  The error may have been made by a GP, surgeon, midwife, nurse, dentist, other medical practitioner or the NHS trust. 

The important thing to establish is whether the errors in your medical treatment have caused you to be harmed.  For a medical negligence claim to be successful it has to be proven that no reasonable medical professional would have provided treatment in the same way, that the treatment received fell below the accepted standards of care and that this caused some form of injury to the patient.

Examples of some of the problems that can be caused by clinical negligence include:

• The need for surgery that would have otherwise been unnecessary
• Conditions or symptoms brought on by incorrectly prescribed medication
• Unanticipated levels of scarring
• Progression of an illness to beyond the point where it can be treated (i.e. following a misdiagnosis)
• Permanent disability
• Prolonged recovery periods
• Infection
• Ongoing pain
• Permanent damage caused by surgical error
• Inability to work
• Inability to care for yourself

There are also some cases where several people will have received negligent treatment of a similar nature from the same source.  In these circumstances a medical negligence multi-party claim may be possible.

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Types of Clinical Negligence Claim

The Legal Line's lawyers, Thompsons Solicitors, are specialists in clinical negligence and have a highly experienced team of expert clinical negligence lawyers.  We can assist with various types of medical negligence compensation claims, including but not limited to:

• Awareness During Anaesthesia
• Brain Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence
• Birth Injuries
• Birth Defects
• Cancer Misdiagnosis
• Cosmetic Surgery Errors
• Dental Negligence
• Failed Sterilisation
• Fatalities
• Gall Bladder Removal (Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy)
• Group / Multi-Party Claims
• Hysterectomy Complications
• Laser Eye Surgery Errors
• Misdiagnosis
• MRSA
• Pressure Sores
• Stillbirth
• Surgical Errors
• Undiagnosed Fractures

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Surgical Errors

All operations carry with them a certain risk of complications, some of which are unavoidable. Some patients however, will go through unnecessary pain and suffering because of surgical errors. In these cases it should be possible to make a medical negligence compensation claim.

There are some complications that may arise that are not caused by any fault on the part of the surgeon. However other surgical errors can be attributed to negligence. If damage caused during an operation goes unnoticed and untreated, this may also constitute negligence.  As an expert in clinical negligence, your lawyer will be able to advise you on whether or not the problem you suffered would give rise to a compensation claim.

All patients should be well informed of the potential risks of surgery, including any specific risks that relate to them (for example a person suffering a heart condition or obesity may be more likely to experience problems with anaesthetic) before they give their consent to the surgery.  If a patient does not feel that they were fully informed of a particular risk that was realised, perhaps one specific to a procedure, and can prove that they would not have gone ahead if they had been, a clinical negligence claim may be possible.

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How to Begin a Clinical Negligence Claim

If you are unlucky enough to suffer adverse affects following medical treatment or surgery and believe that this was caused by negligence, you may be in a position to make a personal injury claim for damages.

You need to make a written complaint first, as this helps to ensure that the matter is noted and looked into. It may even prompt a change in procedure or some other action by the hospital in an attempt to prevent recurrence of the same problem.

Whilst the initial complaint will generally give rise to a reply or explanation it is unlikely that an offer of medical negligence compensation will be made. If that is what you believe should happen you need to seek legal advice from a specialist medical negligence solicitor. That should be someone who is a member of the Law Society’s clinical negligence panel.

In every case, medical evidence will be required and it is necessary to show that the person you are making a medical negligence claim against owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty of care (what is known in law as negligent), and that the injury you sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence. In clinical negligence cases this means that you have to prove that the treatment fell short of accepted standards of care.

At The Legal Line, we have access to experienced medical specialists who can act as expert witnesses in any court case. Your Legal Line lawyer will be able to collate all of the necessary information and evidence to pursue your medical negligence compensation claim to the best possible outcome.

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Costs of Making a Clinical Negligence Claim

Our service to you is provided on a no-cost-to-you basis. In certain cases, it may not be possible to make an accurate assessment of your claim without first obtaining a medical report or expert medical evidence. You may need to fund this report initially, but we will always ensure that we discuss and agree any such costs with you in advance and if your claim is successful they will be recovered for you.

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Further Medical Negligence Information

If you are considering making a medical negligence claim, either in respect of harm you have suffered or on behalf of a living or deceased family member, the following information pages on our site may assist you:

Access to Medical Records

Informed Consent

Inquests

NHS Hospital Complaints Procedures

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Making an NHS Complaint

It is important to register a complaint if you feel that the medical care you have received is below accepted standards, as managers must be aware of any problems in order to resolve them, improve patient care and in some cases implement procedural changes or staff training.

You should endeavour to make your complaint at the earliest opportunity if you have been unable to resolve things after talking to your practitioner, as there are often time limits in place within which to bring a medical negligence compensation claim.

Initially you should contact someone closely linked to the problem (e.g. your doctor, midwife, pharmacist, nurse or receptionist) to put in your complaint, and this can usually be achieved with assistance from the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at your hospital. 

If after this your problem is not resolved, the NHS have a complaints procedure that can be followed, through which you can complain to a practice manager (if your complaint is about your GP) or hospital trust (if your complaint is regarding hospital treatment).  Further details of this can be found on our NHS Hospital Complaints information page.

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Medical Negligence Compensation Claim

There are two elements to a compensation award.

The first, called general damages, is for the pain and suffering you may have gone through and any loss of amenity (perhaps an inability to work, drive or play sports). The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period after the medical incident or for ever if that is what the medical evidence supports.

The second element of a medical negligence compensation award, for your losses and expenses, is known as special damages and aims to put you back in a position financially as if the medical incident had never occurred. It is important to keep receipts for any expenditure you have related to your injury so that these can be reclaimed.

In serious cases, where a person may no longer be able to continue their employment, this can be taken into account. Costs for care, equipment, transport and housing modifications can also be factored into the calculations. If the person is still able to work but not in the same role as before, particularly if they held a public service role such as a doctor or police officer, an extra amount may be awarded for loss of ‘congenial employment’. A court can also make a financial award to recognise that an injured worker's prospects on the open labour market may be limited.

If a person is fatally injured, a dependent relative such as a widow and children may be able to claim a statutory sum for their bereavement and funeral expenses, but also sums for the loss of income and contribution to the household in the form of future losses.

An award in a clinical negligence case is based on the negligent treatment effects that you would not have had if the treatment had been a success. In addition there will be information available on previous awards in similar cases. Very often, clinical negligence cases are settled out of court.

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Specialist Medical Negligence Lawyers

The Legal Line's lawyers have extensive experience in recovering compensation for the victims of clinical negligence. They can offer expert claim advice on all areas of making a claim and the claims process, and can provide the assistance and guidance that you need.

For examples of some of the many clinical negligence cases our lawyers have successfully pursued, follow the links to a selection of articles in our news section and see the case studies detailed below:

The Legal Line Solicitors Recover £30,000 Damages for Personal Injury Caused by Surgery Complication

Compensation Awarded to Victim of Clinical Negligence
Hull Hospital patient secures Compensation for Clinical Negligence

Hospital Trust Finally Admits Liability in Clinical Negligence Case

Mother questions hospital’s ‘catalogue of errors’ following the death of her baby

Successful Medical Misdiagnosis Compensation Claim
Medical Negligence Victim Receives £820,000 Compensation
£175,000 Compensation for Victim of Clinical Negligence Misdiagnosis
Successful Clinical Negligence Claim for Hospital Misdiagnosis
Substantial Settlement in Cerebral Palsy Case
£50,000 Compensation Awarded in Medical Negligence Claim
Medical Negligence Results in the Tragic Death of a Patient
Compensation Claim for Eye Injury Victim
Compensation for Family of Clinical Negligence Victim
Clinical Negligence Compensation for Victim of Laser Eye Surgery Error
Patient Given Incorrect Prescription Receives Medical Negligence Compensation
Clinical Negligence Compensation After Lack of Treatment Results in Amputation

• Our client asked us to represent her in a claim for medical negligence compensation following the birth of her second child. Heavily pregnant, our client had developed severe stomach pains a few weeks before her due date. Contacting the maternity department, she was advised to come in immediately. She was made comfortable with pain relief until she could be seen by a Consultant. After an ultrasound scan she was immediately taken to theatre where she soon gave birth to a baby boy by emergency caesarean section.
  
  When she recovered from more than two hours of surgery under general anaesthetic, she was advised that the placenta had abrupted and that she had suffered extensive internal bleeding. The next day she thought the general anaesthetic was responsible for the fact that she felt so unwell. Still in hospital, two days later however, she awoke with severe stomach pains, which she then took to be a result of the drains being removed. Although she was given painkillers, she found it difficult to sleep because of the pain she was experiencing.
  
  The next morning, still in pain, our client underwent an abdominal X-ray that identified that a swab had been left inside her during the caesarean. A second operation under general anaesthetic was necessary later that day to remove the swab. This additional major procedure also caused her stay in hospital to be much longer than previously planned.
  
  She was subsequently advised at her postnatal check two months later, that a lack of communication had been responsible for the swab being left inside her. This failure to operate a system that effectively counts the number of swabs in and out during such a critical procedure, amounts to sub-standard care.
  
  Fortunately, our client eventually made a good recovery and has not suffered any ongoing pain. Although traumatic for our client at the time, the facts of the case were straightforward and could not be denied by the defendant. Correspondence and detailed negotiations resulted in our specialist medical negligence lawyers securing a satisfactory settlement of £4,000 in compensation for this medical negligence claim.
• Our lawyers recovered clinical negligence compensation for a client who suffered extensive burns during surgery, when a heating blanket used to maintain his body temperature was operated incorrectly.

  When he underwent an operation under general anaesthetic, our client’s shoulder, back and side were burned by a ‘Bair Hugger’ blanket, leaving him with permanent scarring. The injury occurred as the staff failed to ensure that the blanket was not creased or folded around the air inlet. Our expert clinical negligence lawyers were able to secure a settlement of £6,000 damages for the client.

• When our client suffered lower back pain after a sporting injury, he attended hospital and a nurse administered an anti-inflammatory injection into his thigh. He was not seen by a doctor. Over the next few days he developed what initially appeared to be a large bruise in the area. This became progressively more painful so he visited his GP and returned to hospital for advice.

  An ultrasound scan was carried out and our client was advised that there was just some bruising and blood clotting, even though the wound had become red and pus-filled. He was unhappy about this diagnosis so sought private advice. By this point there was skin necrosis and ulceration and it was too late to wash out the wound. He eventually required 2 operations and, although the damage has now healed, our client was left with permanent scarring.

  The nurse should have administered the original injection into the muscle of our client’s buttock, rather than under the skin of his thigh, as this is a known cause of the problems he suffered. Our client felt the hospital was negligent in failing to correctly administer the injection and failing to diagnose and treat the problem it caused in time to limit the damage. Our clinical negligence lawyers recovered £15,000.00 on behalf of the client.

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Client Testimonials

In this section you can read extracts of letters of thanks from some of the many clients our lawyers have assisted in making clinical negligence claims:

• The widow of a man who died as the result of medical negligence wrote: "It is a brilliant result, much better than I had hoped for.  Well done and many thanks.  You have worked extremely hard and I have appreciated it." ... "I can now let go of my anger, which has been fuelling this claim, and try to adjust to life without the love of my life, my soul mate and my best friend.  He would indeed be very pleased with the outcome you have achieved for me."
  

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