Four Clinical Negligence Questions, Answered
March 16, 2019
Almost every medical process features some form of risk to a patient. It is, however, a healthcare practitioner’s job to ensure they take every possible measure to avoid a patient sustaining an injury, illness or poor outcome.
Yet, it is important to note that not every injury or outcome will be a result of medical negligence. To help you learn more about it, here are answers to four common clinical negligence questions.
How Common is Clinical Negligence in the UK?
While no-one likes to think they could receive inadequate care when attending an NHS or private medical practice, mistakes can happen in various healthcare settings.
According to recent NHS figures, there were 460,862 incidents between January to March 2017. However, when you bear in mind that the NHS cares for approximately one million patients every 36 hours in the UK alone, the figure is rather small.
Clinical negligence isn’t down to human error alone, either. Additionally, it could be due to poor procedural processes or a fault with a medical device.
Should I Make a Clinical Negligence Claim or Complaint?
Clinical negligence claims and complaints serve different purposes. Perhaps you did not sustain an injury following medical negligence. Yet you might have reason to believe you have a moral duty to report your concerns about the negligence. In this situation, you should consider making a complaint to the NHS or a private practice’s governing body.
As a result, it could lead to an investigation regarding your care. Moreover, you could potentially receive an apology and an explanation of why your care didn’t meet standards. By contrast to a claim though, you won’t receive financial recognition for any injury you endure.
However, a formal complaint could potentially support a clinical negligence claim. Accordingly, you may receive further evidence from the NHS or the governing body as proof. As a result, it could potentially speed up the legal process and ensure you receive the right level of compensation.
What’s the Clinical Negligence Claims Time Limit?
There is currently a statutory time limit of three years to make a clinical negligence claim in the UK. Deadlines will start from either:
- The date you sustain an injury, plus;
- The date you identify that injury in connection to treatment.
For this reason, you should act sooner rather than later to secure the compensation that is rightfully yours.
How Much Compensation for Clinical Negligence?
There is no fixed compensation figure for clinical negligence. How much you are awarded depends on
- the injury you sustain;
- your loss of income and;
- The emotional distress the injury visits upon you.
Our clinical negligence solicitors will endeavour to help you secure the compensation amount you deserve to recover from an injury. That is because we develop a robust case to help you receive the maximum compensation amount.
It’s also important to note that a compensation claim is different from a complaint in terms of the response. In essence, it won’t result in an apology or disciplinary action against the medical practitioners responsible. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that procedures will be put in place to protect other patients from the same fate.
If you believe you have been a victim of clinical negligence, contact The Medical Negligence Experts today.