The Right to Claim Compensation for Medical Negligence
If substandard or negligent medical care causes a patient to suffer a poor outcome, they are legally entitled to claim compensation for the consequences.
The scope of medical or clinical negligence
It is easy to assume that the term medical negligence applies to a limited range of specific actions within a healthcare setting such as an error during surgery or a failure of anaesthesia.
In fact, errors of healthcare can occur at a wide variety of points in the patient's care pathway and the focus is on the impact on the patient rather than the nature of the negligence. If the negligent act, whatever it is, causes the patient to suffer a worse outcome than should have been the case with an appropriate quality of care, they may be regarded as having suffered from negligent care.
For example, medical professionals may be regarded as having been negligent in a variety of ways including the following:
- A failure to carry out an appropriate examination and assessment, leading to a misdiagnosis
- A failure to make an appropriate referral
- A misdiagnosis
- A failure of prescription or administration of medication
- A failure of safety-netting
- A delay in initiating surgery
- An error in surgery
- A failure of monitoring, risk assessment and investigation, thereby allowing the patient to develop a severe infection which would not have occurred with an appropriate level of care
If failings such as the above cause the patient to suffer unnecessarily, they may be able to claim compensation for the consequences.
Who is responsible?
The party held responsible for the negligence may be a GP or a surgeon but it may also be an NHS 111 practitioner, an NHS Healthcare Trust, the Out-of-Hours service or a maternity professional amongst a range of other healthcare practitioners.
Essentially, if a healthcare professional causes or allows a patient to suffer significant, unnecessary and life-changing damage, it may be possible to make a claim.
What is included in a claim?
A successful claim for compensation will incorporate the financial consequences of the negligence.
This may include a loss of earnings, where the negligence has adversely affected the patient's ability to work.
It may also include the costs of equipment, treatment, personal care or household adaptations where such items have been necessitated by the consequences of the negligent care.
Speak to a specialist
As can be imagined, compensation claims for medical negligence are extremely complex, encompassing a wide range of conditions, healthcare settings and personal consequences for the patient.
If you think that you may be entitled to make a claim, speak to a legal specialist.
Glynns Solicitors is a dedicated medical negligence legal practice with a team of experienced lawyers and a history of success in high-value claims.
Contact us today to talk to a solicitor, free of charge, about the possibility of making a claim.
Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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