Medical Negligence Solicitor in Cardiff

Medical Negligence Solicitors in Cardiff

The Medical Negligence Solicitors is one of the country’s leading firms for clients injured through medical negligence. Working with experienced medical negligence solicitors in Cardiff, Leeds, London, Manchester and other parts of the UK, we help people get the compensation they deserve.

There is no reason you should suffer financially as well as physically. With The Medical Negligence Experts, you can access the compensation you need to move on from your personal injury.

Types of Medical Negligence Claims

When you choose the Medical Negligence Experts, you are not choosing just one lawyer but a team of skilled professionals. We’ll match you with a solicitor with knowledge and experience of successfully claiming compensation for your specific type of negligence.

Types of medical negligence claims we handle include the following, as well as cerebral palsy and many others.

Pregnancy and Birth Injury Claims

Birth injuries can have devastating effects on what should be a joyful and exciting time for the family. Failing to monitor expecting mothers and those in labour can threaten both the mother’s and baby’s health. Conditions like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes require a frequent assessment to manage the additional risk.

If you believe your care during pregnancy or birth was negligent? Furthermore, this was the cause of an injury to yourself or your child? Talk to The Medical Negligence Experts to find out about claiming compensation.

Hospital Negligence Claims

You deserve the same standard of care for treatment in a private hospital or an NHS trust. There is no doubt that there are times when staff are under enormous pressure. Moreover, even the most skilful can make a mistake. But there is no reason you suffer an injury or fall ill as the result of substandard care.

Claims for hospital negligence can include anything from failing to read a patient’s notes correctly before administering medication to lack of regular maintenance of equipment that can lead to a misdiagnosis.

Misdiagnosis Claims from Medical Negligence Solicitors in Cardiff

There is a variety of reasons medical misdiagnosis occurs. Sometimes a GP is lax in assessing a patient or making a referral. Meanwhile, other successful claims have been due to a mistake from:

• testing samples;
• administration errors, or;
• misreading test results.

The law accepts that it is possible for health professionals to take all reasonable steps and a patient still be misdiagnosed. However, where cases involved a clear failing towards a patient, The Medical Negligence Experts use Law Society certified lawyers that can assist in obtaining appropriate compensation.

Cosmetic Surgery Claims

Until relatively recently, the cosmetic surgery industry was under little regulation. Accordingly, it was possible for practitioners to deliver treatments with little more than informal qualifications.

Tighter rules in 2016 now make it a legal requirement for the surgeon to ensure the patient is:

• fully aware of the risks with their treatment;
• they do in fact provide informed consent, and;
• that they face no aggressive selling of a product or deception in any advertising.

Cosmetic surgery negligence claims can cover surgical treatments like breast augmentation and liposuction. Plus, treatments like tattoo removal, facial fillers, and dermabrasion. If you believe your injury is the result of medical negligence, then talk to the team at The Medical Negligence Experts. We may also be able to assist if you went abroad for treatment.

GP Negligence Claims

Your general practitioner is typically your first port of call when you feel unwell. Their role is to diagnose and treat when they can, and refer patients to a specialist when they are unable to diagnose a cause or their prescribed treatment does not work.

GPs are also responsible for medication repetition. That is,

making sure they do not allow a patient to remain on a particular type of treatment or medication for an excessively long period without regular assessment.

While the vast majority of GPs in the UK support their patients to a high standard, there are unfortunate occasions where this level of care falls below what is acceptable. If you feel you or a loved one has suffered illness or injury as the result of a negligent GP care, get in touch with us.

Hospital-Acquired Infection Claims

C. Diff and MRSA are two of the most common types of hospital-acquired infections which affect patients in the UK. The bacteria for these illnesses can exist harmlessly on the skin, only causing problems when a patient’s immune system is vulnerable, such as when they are ill or recovering from an operation.

Hospitals and care homes must maintain strict standards of hygiene to prevent avoidable outbreaks of infection. While some patients recover fully from their ordeal, others are face life with debilitating side-effects that can be permanent.

Claiming Compensation for Medical Negligence

The first step in a successful compensation application is determining whether you have grounds to claim. Your lawyer will seek to prove the cause for the claim – that is, that you were injured, contracted an illness, or that your condition deteriorated faster than it would otherwise have done.

The second criteria tackle the matter of liability. Someone needs to have breached their duty of care towards you, resulting in your injury or illness. This could be at a personal level, like a nurse giving an incorrect dosage of medication. Or at an institutional level, such as cost-cutting measures in a hospital which meant scanning equipment was not maintained and working correctly and you suffer a delayed diagnosis.

Cause and liability must exist together for a claim to be valid. You may experience negligent care, but if it doesn’t cause damage, then you are not entitled to compensation.

Likewise, you may suffer an avoidable incident, such as a hospital-acquired infection. But say that the care provider took all reasonable steps to prevent this from happening. Moreover, the care was of a professional standard you’d find at similar venues. Ergo, there is no liability and, therefore, no claim.

Once your lawyer has verified you have cause and liability, you will know you have grounds to claim compensation and can choose whether to proceed. We offer our clients a No Win No Fee* conditional fee agreement to make legal support affordable.

Compensation Amounts for Medical Negligence Solicitors in Cardiff

Clients naturally want to know how much compensation they will receive. We promise that we will strive for the maximum compensation for your injury. Compensation is more than a number – it is a resource that will help you access the support you need to move on from your injury and live your life as it would have been before your injury, or as close to it as possible.

It is about making sure that, while you have been injured physically (or emotionally, if you have lost a loved one through negligence) that you do not suffer financially as well.

Healthcare providers pay compensation for pain and suffering – general damage that affects your quality of life. Has it left you with a permanent disability or condition? Are you able to return to your normal job or are your employment prospects now limited? Do you need additional care with daily tasks like driving or getting dressed?

Every claim is assessed individually in detail. Professional want to make sure the amount of compensation is sufficient to meet the claimant’s future needs.

Proof of pain and suffering

Proof of pain and suffering comes from your medical records together with a report from an independent medical expert. The latter is important as it will help show that another professional in a similar role would not have committed the same act of negligence.

In addition to general damages, they pay special damages for financial loss or expense you have endured as the result of your injury. This can include loss of earnings – including expected overtime or bonuses, the cost of additional treatment or at-home nursing care, prescription costs and travel expenses. If you suffer a disability and need to make changes to your home, this is part of the special damages you request.

Claims involving brain injury and spinal damage, where a patient’s long-term prognosis isn’t always clear, can take years to process. Where the other party admits liability, your solicitor can request an interim compensation payment so you do not suffer financial hardship. This amount comes out of the final agreed payment with your medical negligence lawyer.

Compensation Claim Processing Times

Claiming compensation regarding Cardiff medical negligence can take anywhere from around nine months to over three. It is not possible to be specific at the initial stage of your claim though, as a general rule, the more obvious the negligence is and the less serious your injury, the faster it will be to resolve. Average processing times are between 12 and 18 months.

Your lawyer will begin by getting the evidence to prove cause and liability, which can take weeks to months, depending on the nature of your negligent treatment and how long ago it occurred. This information then goes to the other party with the request they acknowledge liability and pay an appropriate amount of compensation. They then have four months to investigate and respond to the Letter of Claim.

If the defendant denies liability or you can’t agree on what is a fair compensation payment, your lawyer may recommend you start court proceedings. Litigation needs to begin within three years of the date of the negligent incident, or by the claimant’s 21st birthday if they were a minor at the time.

Nearly all clinical negligence claims settle without the need to go to court. The NHS Litigation Authority handles all claims against the NHS. Statistics reveal they resolve more than 98% of their claims out of court, and it is likely that your claim will be too.

We’ll only recommend starting litigation if we know and can prove that you receive unfair medical treatment. Moreover, we’ll continue to advise and support you through the process with legal aid registered in England and Wales.

Claiming Compensation on Behalf of Another Person

The Medical Negligence Experts also work with clients claiming on behalf of another person. Parents or guardians can claim on behalf of a child at any point up until the child’s 18th birthday. At that point, the victim can begin the claim themselves.

It’s also possible to claim for a victim of medical negligence if the victim is unable to act for themselves. For instance, such as in the case of a patient who has serious learning difficulties.

Claims made on behalf of someone else do not need to go to court. However, the settlement needs to be approved by the court in an informal hearing. Any compensation goes into a trust, held for them until they are legally able to manage their finances themselves. Or, it may be allocated by the trustees for the claimant’s benefit.

Learn more about Medical Negligence Solicitors in Cardiff

The easiest way to start your successful compensation claim is to get in touch with The Medical Negligence Experts today. We can give you a free consultation to answer any questions you have. You can also start your claim today by filling in our online form: one of our team will call you.

Our team is made up of legal professionals who understand the impact that medical negligence has. Accordingly, they’ll treat you with respect and sensitivity in acknowledgement of the pain you may still be suffering. No claim is the same, but every client will receive the same exceptional standard legal support and advice.

Our medical negligence solicitors in Cardiff secure compensation for victims of many types of negligent acts by medical professionals. We have the specialist expertise to do the same for you, so get in touch today to find out more – whether its time limits or more.

*conditions apply