Serious Illness Negligence Claims

Serious Illness Negligence Claims

When you have concerns about your health and seek medical advice, you do not anticipate that your worries will be ignored or misinterpreted. Serious illness negligence occurs in all branches of medical care, both in NHS facilities and private practices. If you think you have been affected by serious illness negligence, you may be entitled to claim compensation. The Medical Negligence Experts support clients who have been let down by those they trusted to look after their health.

What is Serious Illness Negligence?

Negligence is the failure to act in a way that would reasonably be expected to protect a patient’s health. Serious illness negligence is an avoidable situation where a patient falls ill or is injured because the medical care they received was of an unacceptable standard.

Examples of serious illness negligence can include:

• Delays in obtaining a diagnosis and starting treatment.
• Surgical delays and errors.
• Failing to refer a patient for further assessment or specialist treatment.
• Inadequate postoperative care.
• Failing to provide support outside of the hospital, such as rehabilitation treatment or at-home nursing support.
• Premature discharge from care.
• Inadequate initial assessment of a patient.

How Can We Help?

Even if you have not decided whether or not to claim compensation, or you are not sure whether you have legal grounds to act, contact The Medical Negligence Experts where an expert will be able to answer your initial questions so you can make an informed decision. There is a time limit for claiming medical negligence, and the process can take up to a year – longer in the case of complicated situations – so it is beneficial to start as early as possible.

For your claim to be successful, you will need to prove that the medical staff breached their duty of care by acting negligently and that this negligence directly caused you to suffer injury or illness. By obtaining your medical notes and seeking the assessment of an independent medical expert, we will gather the necessary evidence to prove this, submitting it to the other party with the request they make fair and adequate compensation.

The amount you can claim will depend on the nature of your injuries and the impact they have on your life now, and in the future. We will include expenses like loss of earnings, as well as any necessary care you may need such as rehabilitative therapy or extra nursing.

Where appropriate, we will seek to obtain an interim payment to help you access early treatment to start your rehabilitation. Early intervention can often improve a patient’s long-term prognosis and having the money to access this privately will enable you to avoid long NHS waiting times. A vast majority of medical negligence claims settle without a trial. If you do have to go to court, your lawyer will support and guide you through every step of the process.

No Win No Fee* Claims for Medical Negligence

One of the first things we do when people contact us about claiming compensation for medical negligence is to help them identify whether they have grounds to claim and what their options are for paying for their legal representation.

Claiming compensation for medical negligence can be time-consuming. As there is no guarantee of a positive outcome for claimants, it can also pose a financial risk at a time when they can least afford it. One of the first things we do is assess a client’s claim to see whether it has a good chance of success so that they can decide whether it is in their best interest to continue.

Some claimants choose to pay their legal fees themselves, using savings or the sale of an asset to cover the cost. Others use an insurance policy which provides cover for these legal costs, although there may be a limit to the amount the insurer will cover with the balance coming from the claimant’s pocket.
Most of the compensation claims we handle happen through a conditional agreement, more typically referred to as a No Win No Fee* claim.

To qualify for a No Win No Fee* agreement, our solicitors need to know not only that there are legitimate grounds to claim compensation, but also that these can be proven. It can feel very unfair to victims that they have to justify their right to receive payment for damages, but the onus is on you to show that your injury could have have been avoided had you receive an adequate standard of care.

Hiring a solicitor who has successfully obtained compensation for other clients in your situation can make an enormous difference in the outcome of your claim. Applying under a No Win No Fee* agreement not only frees you from the financial risk of starting a process which has no guarantee of success, but it also gives you the confidence that we are working hard to obtain the best possible result for you.

It does not matter whether your injury resulted from negligent care provided by a private practitioner or you received treatment through the NHS; The Medical Negligence Experts can help you request payment for damages.

The amount of compensation you are entitled to will depend on the nature of your injury and the impact it has had on your life. We offer all prospective clients a free, no-obligation conversation with an agent so you can find out things like whether your claim is likely to be successful, how long the process takes, and the amount of compensation you can expect to receive before you decide what you want to do next.

In most instances, there is a strict statutory limit of three years from the date of injury, or the date of awareness, for a client to make a claim. You can help your claim succeed by seeking legal advice at the earliest opportunity – even if you are still recovering in hospital – as evidence is often more difficult to obtain once time has lapsed.

Why delay? Contact The Medical Negligence Experts today to find out how our lawyers can help you claim compensation.