Can I Sue the NHS for Medical Negligence?
June 14, 2019
The NHS has an established process in place for complaints and for medical negligence claims. Your first step to making a claim for negligence should be to determine that you have a case. If you merely intend to make a complaint about poor treatment, then this will require a very different set of steps. But it’s a different matter to ask “Can I sue the NHS for medical negligence?”
In short, for making claims of medical negligence, you need to:
- suffer from an injury;
- sustain unnecessary pain, or;
- miss out financially as a result of your NHS care.
Whether this is due to a single individual or the overall level of care you receive depends on your personal case. Getting legal help as early as possible is vital.
Can I sue the NHS for Medical Negligence: Background
In order to verify the validity of your claim, your solicitor will be looking for two things. They are:
- Fault: Was a doctor or nurse responsible for your ineffective or damaging care? This will be dependant on the expectation of care in similar medical procedures. If your medical care varied for some reason and that variation resulted in poor quality care, then this is an indication that your claim will be successful.
- Harm Causation: Your solicitor will then evaluate the harm, injury, or potential losses that you have suffered as a result of your poor treatment. The important thing here is that any harm that you suffer from is very clear. Moreover, it needs to be directly attributable to the medical accident.
Time Constraints
There are time limits for making a claim of medical negligence against the NHS. This is normally three years (36 months) from the date that harm takes place. While there are exceptions to this rule, you should always seek legal help as early as possible.
Your solicitor will be able to advise you on time constraints. If you have waited for more than three years to make your claim, there may be additional avenues to explore.
Your Solicitor
When you contact an NHS medical negligence solicitor, they will ask you to provide evidence backing up your claim. They will evaluate your claim and ensure that they meet the right conditions. If they agree to take on your case, then they will then sue the NHS on your behalf.
It’s important to find a medical negligence solicitor that specializes in medical cases. These can often be very complex in terms of the use of medical language. Therefore, a strong amount of experience is essential.
Claim Amounts to Sue the NHS for Medical Negligence
It’s important to understand that the compensation you receive when you sue the NHS for medical negligence will vary. Factors such as the harm you received, any financial losses, or a drop in your quality of life will all be taken into account. Knowing what you can claim for in terms of compensation will best ensure that you get the financial remuneration you deserve. That way, you can return to normality after victimhood from medical negligence.
We all have a right to healthcare, and the NHS is in place to meet that need. However, mistakes and errors do happen. If you suffer as a result of medical negligence, then you should get legal advice as early as possible. That will ensure that you get the right advice and help, and will make it more likely that you get the financial compensation that you need.
Consider a lawsuit against the NHS for Medical Negligence?
Injuries and illnesses from a medical accident require insight and focus from legal professionals that understand NHS negligence claims inside and out. Because we offer No Win, No Fee claims service, The Medical Negligence Experts clearly are willing to put their money where their skills are.
By nature, we qualify each individual’s case on its merits and its potential to succeed. By waiving any upfront legal costs, victims can trust a solicitor who believes in a case so much that they’ll fund it themselves.
Moreover, they want what you want: satisfaction with what you’re unnecessarily enduring. If that means no compensation, but a mere acknowledgement of wrongdoing and better practices via the NHS complaints procedure, then the solicitors we work with can strive to achieve that. Or, if you feel compelled to sue the NHS for negligent medical treatment, we’ll fight for you.
What examples of medical negligence might you sue for
In truth, the following list of examples of negligence by doctors isn’t exhaustive. Nevertheless, it does cover some of the more common reasons clients suffer.
- For one, failing to refer a patient for scans or tests which would detect a serious illness.
- Also, an error in analysing your test results.
- Misdiagnosing a condition is another example.
- Prescribing incorrect medication (for example, the wrong strength), or;
- Prescribing medication the patient has a known allergy to.
- Recording patient information incorrectly, such as not taking note of a patient’s allergies.
- Not examining a patient thoroughly might also occur.
- Carrying out procedures that a medical professional can’t do.
How we’ll help you with your claim
Our network of expert medical negligence solicitors has procured many different levels of compensation amounts to victims. These winnings help to:
- cover loss of earnings;
- new expenses you incur;
- changes in living arrangements and;
- other kinds of damages due to the poor treatment you receive from a healthcare professional.
No medical professional in their right mind ever intends to harm in the first place. But when they do, suing the NHS requires the professional you had expected to deliver on their duty of care in the first place.
The legal professionals at The Medical Negligence Experts also strive to meet a certain duty of care for your case. Accordingly, they will give you the expertise you’ve been without thus far.
*But perhaps you can’t prove that, or other circumstances or medical history might cloud the clarity of harm causation. In short, the case will not be likely to succeed.