Medical Negligence Solicitors In Peterborough

Medical Negligence Solicitors in Peterborough

Do you need medical negligence solicitors in Peterborough? Talk to us at The Medical Negligence Experts. We help clients around the UK successfully claim compensation for injury as a result of medical negligence.

Our team of specialist medical negligence lawyers have the knowledge and experience necessary for obtaining maximum compensation. We will match you with a lawyer who understands your particular type of claim whether it is related to GP negligence, scarring from cosmetic surgery, or if you are claiming on behalf of your child who suffered brain damage due to a birth injury.

No one wants to be in a position where they are entitled to seek compensation, but if you are, you can trust your lawyer to get the payment you deserve. Compensation lets you access treatment and resources to get your life back on track.

Types of Medical Negligence Claims in Peterborough

We have solicitors who specialise in every kind of negligence claim from amputation and Accident and Emergency claims to sepsis claims and surgical negligence. If you or your loved one has suffered injury caused by medical negligence, whether you were receiving private or NHS treatment, we want to know. Examples of compensation claims include:

Birth Injury Negligence Claims in Peterborough

Birth may be a natural process, but it is not necessarily a smooth one. Failing to monitor mother and baby during pregnancy and birth can lead to conditions like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, and hip dysplasia in children. Preeclampsia and gestational diabetes are dangerous to both mother and child and can be, in the worst case, fatal.

If your child has been injured as the result of negligent care, or you have suffered from severe perineal tears, internal organ damage, incorrect episiotomies, and anaesthetic errors, talk to our birth injury specialists at The Medical Negligence Experts.

Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims in Peterborough

The effectiveness of cancer detection and treatment has developed at a rapid pace in the last decade. Diagnosis is faster, treatment is less invasive, and patients have a greater chance than ever of making a full recovery. A critical element of successfully treating cancer is an early diagnosis. Our specialist cancer claim lawyers have represented clients who have suffered harsher treatments, shortened life-expectancy, and even death as the result of failings to detect and treat their cancer in an appropriate manner.

Cancer negligence claim examples include a woman in her twenties who was repeatedly refused a referral for a scan for breast cancer because she was considered too young. It was proven that her mastectomy would probably have been unnecessary if there was no delay in diagnosing her cancer. Another example was a claim made by the family of a young woman who was not called back for further tests after an abnormal cervical smear and who subsequently died of cervical cancer.

Eye Injury Claims in Peterborough

Eye injury negligence can relate to laser eye surgery or cataract surgery, but it can also include the misdiagnosis of conditions like glaucoma and detached retinas. Loss or partial loss of eyesight can have a devastating effect on every aspect of your life, with some victims having to leave work and stop driving as the result of being unable to see properly.

The Medical Negligence Experts can help you claim compensation if you have suffered an eye injury that you believe to have been caused by negligent care.

Fatal Negligence Claims in Peterborough

Medical negligence can cause more than pain and suffering. It can be fatal. The Medical Negligence Experts support families of those who have died as the result of inadequate medical care. People can have different reactions to loss, and we have represented those who are genuinely angry at the passing of their loved one, as well as those who are so overwhelmed by the grief that they are unsure how to proceed. Whatever your situation, our team will act with respect and professionalism, helping obtain not only financial compensation to ease the burden of wrongful death, but help you find answers and move forward.

Fracture Negligence Claims in Peterborough

Fractures are not always visible to the naked eye but will typically show on an x-ray. While the misdiagnosis of a fracture is rarely fatal, it can cause long-term issues for a patient if it is not treated quickly and the bone sets in the wrong position. Swelling and bruising can disguise a fracture as a soft tissue injury, however, if it is reasonable to suspect a fracture and a doctor fails to request an x-ray or misreads the results of an x-ray, their care may be considered negligent.

Hospital-Acquired Infection Claims in Peterborough

Bacteria can easily enter the body wherever the skin has been broken, such as through a surgical incision or where a catheter has been inserted. Hospitals have a duty of care to prevent infection where possible, by maintaining appropriate standards of hygiene. Inefficient hand washing, being slow to change a patient’s dressings, and even inadequate washing of bedding and surfaces can quickly spread bacteria.

Two of the most familiar types of hospital-acquired infections are MRSA and C.Difficile. Healthy people can have contact with these bacteria with little to no effect – they may even carry them on their skin without knowing – but those with already weakened immune systems can be badly affected, with infection potentially leading to dehydration, painful cramps, and sepsis.

Prescription Error Negligence Claims in Peterborough

Get in touch with The Medical Negligence Experts if you have been affected by a prescription error. This may have been caused by your GP prescribing the wrong medication, or by the dispensing pharmacist making a mistake when filling the prescription. We also represent clients who have been harmed when the prescribing physician did not check whether they were on any other medication or had known allergies.

Sepsis Negligence Claims in Peterborough

The Sepsis Trust reports that more than 150,000 cases of sepsis are diagnosed in the UK every year – 44,000 of which result in the patient’s death. It is a dangerous infection that can quickly become fatal if not identified swiftly and treated correctly. Even when not fatal, sepsis can still result in life-altering conditions including amputations. Sepsis initially appears in flu-like symptoms which, when diagnosed early, can be treated with antibiotics at home. When left unchecked it spreads and causes organ failure and death.

The Medical Negligence Experts has lawyers who specialise in handling claims for negligence like delayed or misdiagnosis of sepsis.

3 Common Questions about Compensation Claims

The first step in a successful compensation claim is getting reliable legal advice. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation where you can ask any question you have about making a claim, including whether or not you have legal grounds.

Understandably, three of the earliest questions clients want answers to are:

Can I claim compensation?

There are two facts to verify before knowing whether you are entitled to payment of damages. The first is whether you have had a genuine injury. This is referred to as a cause. The second fact is whether your injury was avoidable. Was someone else to blame? This aspect is referred to as a liability. Cause and liability must exist together in a claim. It is not enough that you received negligent care – perhaps a delayed diagnosis – if it did not result in injury or illness. Likewise, not all injuries are caused by negligence.

Causation is determined by asking if the defendant had not been negligent, would the injury have occurred. For example, a patient had a heart attack and was brought to A&E, but there was a delay in them receiving treatment and they sadly passed away, the question is would their heart attack have been fatal even if they had received immediate care. If the answer is “yes” then, although the delay was negligent, there is no legal obligation to pay compensation.

The Medical Negligence Experts will go through your circumstances carefully to determine whether you have grounds to make a claim, and to obtain the right evidence to prove cause and liability. As the claimant, it is your role to show cause and responsibility which is why having a lawyer who specialises in medical negligence is vital. Without a specialist, you are unlikely to receive the amount of compensation to which you may be entitled.

How much money will I receive?

We have already looked at the first question, so let’s move on to number two: how much compensation will you receive? It isn’t possible to be exact, particularly in the early stages of a claim, but you solicitor can give you an estimate based on the nature of your injury, the impact it has had on your life and whether it will continue to affect you, and how much it has cost in things like lost wages and private treatment. Lawyers also use guidelines set out by the Judicial College to estimate a fair payment of damages.

Compensation payments consist of general damages in recognition of the pain and suffering associated with your injury, and special damages to cover extra expenses you have incurred as the result of your accident.

The more ongoing medical needs you have and the larger the effect your injury has had on your life, the more compensation you are likely to receive. For example, a minor injury from which a patient recovers fully may warrant compensation of £700 to £1,000, while a patient left with limited physical and cognitive ability may receive several hundred thousand pounds.

How long will it take?

As with knowing how much you will receive, it is not possible to state accurately how long your claim will take at the beginning, but we can estimate. The average processing time of most medical negligence compensation claims is 12 to 18 months. Factors which influence processing time include:

• How available the evidence is. Your medical records will be one of the key items that prove cause and liability. We typically find that the less time that has passed between your injury and your claim, the easier they are to obtain. If you are claiming years after the event, for example, if you were a child at the time of your injury but you are claiming as an adult, these may have been archived and not simple to get.
• Whether the other party admits they were responsible for your injury.
• The extent and nature of your injuries. A claim for a broken arm which heals completely will typically be faster than a claim involving spinal damage where the long-term prognosis is unclear.
• How quickly the defendant responds to your compensation request. They can take up to four months from receipt of your request to conduct their own investigation and respond.
• Whether your claim goes to court. Around 98% of all applications for compensation settle without litigation. If the defendant denies liability or refuses to pay a fair and reasonable amount of compensation, you may have to submit your claim to court for a judge to rule if and how much compensation you will receive.

Claiming Compensation on Behalf of Another Person

The Medical Negligence Experts not only represents clients claiming compensation for themselves, but we can also help if you want to make a claim for a family member or friend if they are unable to do so themselves. This could be either because they are under the age of 18, or because they are legally incapacitated. Any compensation received is paid into a trust and either held for them until they can manage their own finances, or be allocated by trustees to benefit the claimant.

For example, parents can claim compensation for children injured at birth and ask the trustees to release funds to pay for private nursing care, educational tuition, home adaptations, or anything else that makes the child’s life more comfortable.

We believe everyone should have access to top-quality legal advice and representation, which is why we offer clients the option of a No Win No Fee* agreement to make claiming compensation affordable. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you receive compensation that will allow you to move beyond your injury.

*conditions may apply