No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors

Medical Negligence Claims Explained

Welcome to our guide to the services offered by No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors. Whether you’re in the care of a hospital, GP surgery, dental surgery or the like, all healthcare providers owe you an ethical duty of care that they must abide by. As part of this duty, they must demonstrate a commitment to delivering quality care in an effective manner.

However, it’s against the law to breach this duty of care. Therefore, if you’ve suffered harm that could have been prevented, you can establish grounds to make a medical negligence claim. 

In this article, we’ll provide you with our expert guide on how to make a medical negligence claim. This way, we hope to help you take the necessary steps towards winning the compensation that you deserve.

If you’d like to learn more about anything included in this guide, we have a team of specialist advisors available 24/7 to speak to you. Whether you’re having trouble establishing liability or you’re finding legal proceedings difficult to navigate, a medical negligence solicitor could help. 

No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors
No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors

You’ll get a free consultation on your situation, allowing our advisors to assess whether you could have grounds to make a valid claim. If this is the case, they can even connect you with our panel of medical negligence lawyers who can work with you on a No Win No Fee basis. 

So, with free consultations and No Win No Fee services on offer, why not get in touch with us today to see how we can help you?

Jump To A Section

  1. Our Guide To No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors
  2. What Are No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors?
  3. Calculate How Much A Medical Negligence Solicitor Could Help You Claim
  4. Could I Make A Claim With No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors?
  5. Do I Have A Medical Negligence Claim?
  6. Clinical Negligence Statistics
  7. NHS Negligence Claims
  8. Types Of Cases Handled By Medical Negligence Solicitors
  9. Is There A Time Limit For Making A Medical Negligence Claim?
  10. No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitor FAQs
  11. Request A Callback
  12. Related Services

Our Guide To No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors

In this article, we’ll provide you with our expert guide on how to make a medical negligence claim. This way, we hope to help you take the necessary steps towards winning the compensation that you deserve.

To do so, we’ll begin by addressing some questions that you may have if you’ve fallen victim to medical negligence, including:

  • What does medical negligence look like and how can it happen?
  • Can you sue the NHS for medical negligence?
  • Do I have grounds to make a valid medical negligence claim?
  • Is there a time limit for making a medical negligence claim?
  • How much compensation could I receive as part of a successful medical negligence claim?
  • What is a medical negligence solicitor and how could one help me?

Furthermore, we’ll provide you with our specialist advice on how you could ensure that your claim has the best chances of success, such as:

  • Why entering into a No Win No Fee agreement could benefit you
  • How to find the best medical negligence solicitor to handle your case
  • What steps to take to evidence your claim

As mentioned above, if you’d like to learn more about anything included in this guide, we have a team of specialist advisors available 24/7 to speak to you. You’ll get a free consultation on your situation, allowing our advisors to assess whether you could have grounds to make a valid claim. If this is the case, they can even connect you with our panel of medical negligence lawyers who can work with you on a No Win No Fee basis. 

So, with free consultations and No Win No Fee services on offer, why not get in touch with us today to see how we can help you?

To learn more about how No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors can help you, please continue reading.

What Are No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors?

Whether you’re having trouble establishing liability or you’re finding legal proceedings difficult to navigate, a medical negligence solicitor could help. Not only could their expertise help maximise the amount of compensation that you’re entitled to, but increase your chances of securing it.

With years of experience handling a wide range of cases, our panel of medical negligence lawyers could unburden you from the typical stresses of making a claim. From collecting supporting evidence to organising medical assessments, they’ll handle everything on your behalf. In the meantime, you can have peace of mind that they have the knowledge needed to guide you to win the compensation that you deserve. 

To learn more about how our panel of medical negligence lawyers could help you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today for a free consultation.

Calculate How Much A Medical Negligence Solicitor Could Help You Claim

Are you wondering how much compensation you could be entitled to as part of your medical negligence claim? If so, this section will address how claims are valued according to the extent of the physical injuries, psychological trauma and financial losses that you were caused. With this in mind, there is no such thing as an average payout, as every case is unique.

To explain how payouts are valued, it’s important to distinguish that there are two different types of compensation: general damages and special damages.

Special damages can be claimed to account for any financial losses that your medical negligence has caused you to experience. Whether you had to pay out of pocket for prescription fees, the cost of a carer or even travel expenses to and from subsequent medical appointments, this could all be financially recovered.

You could even claim for any loss of earnings or damage to your career that could result in future losses. However, you must be able to evidence any payments, using receipts, bank statements and the like. If you can’t do so, then you risk losing out.

On the other hand, general damages can be claimed to account for any physical injuries or psychological trauma that your medical negligence has caused you to experience. Whether you suffered or your suffering was prolonged or increased unnecessarily, this could all be compensated.

You can evidence your suffering by undergoing a medical assessment with an independent expert as part of a claim. They’ll make a report verifying your overall condition, detailing any injuries you sustained, how you’ve been impacted by the incident in question and how your quality of life has been affected in general.

Medical Negligence Claims Calculator

As payouts are valued according to the extent of suffering caused, some example estimates are included in the table below to give you an idea of the various compensation brackets. These brackets were created by the Judicial College Guidelines, a trustworthy organisation whose materials like these are used to train Britain’s judges.

InjuryCompensation Bracket
Infertility resulting from failure to diagnose ectopic pregnancy£31,950 to £95,850
Where delay in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy but fertility not affected£3,180 to £19,170
Symptoms of a minor reaction to incorrect medication.£860 to £3,710
More severe reactions to the likes of incorrect medication. May lead to hospitalisation.£8,950 to £18,020

Although you may be tempted to use medical negligence claims calculator tools online, the figures that they generate could be inaccurate generalisations. Instead, we have a team of specialist advisors available 24/7 to speak to you. You’ll get a free consultation on your situation, allowing our advisors to assess whether you could have grounds to make a valid claim and how much you could be entitled to for it. So, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.

How Could I Make A Claim With No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors?

Whether you’re having trouble establishing liability or you’re finding legal proceedings difficult to navigate, a medical negligence solicitor could help. However, a common concern shared by prospective claimants is the financial risk involved with making a claim and the cost of legal assistance.

However, our panel of medical negligence lawyers always works with their clients on a No Win No Fee basis. This way, they don’t have to pay them unless they get the compensation that they deserve. What’s more, there are no upfront costs to pay upon agreement, nor are there any hidden fees running throughout the claims process.

If your medical negligence solicitor wins your case, you’ll pay them a small percentage of your payout to cover their legal fees. This is legally capped for your benefit. To learn more about how our panel could help you on a No Win No Fee basis, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today for a free consultation.

Do I Have A Medical Negligence Claim?

Whether you’re in the care of a hospital, GP surgery, dental surgery or the like, all healthcare providers owe you an ethical duty of care that they must abide by. As part of this duty, they must demonstrate a commitment to delivering quality care in an efficient manner. However, from time to time, these standards fail to be met. Whether accidental or deliberate, providing substandard care is never acceptable. 

Negligence

Providing you can prove that the medical negligence you experienced was preventable, meaning other healthcare workers would have acted differently in the same situation, you could be able to make a medical negligence claim. 

Grounds for negligence can typically be established if the situation meets the following criteria:

  • The healthcare provider owed you a duty of care
  • This duty of care was breached by the healthcare provider
  • You suffered harm as a result of this breach by the healthcare provider

Evidence

If your situation appears to meet these criteria for negligence, then you’re one step closer to being able to claim. However, to ensure that you present a strong case, you’ll need to collect evidence. 

If you’ve suffered physical or psychological harm as a result of the medical negligence that you endured, you can prove this by undergoing a medical assessment with an independent expert as part of the case. They’ll make a report on your overall condition, detailing any injuries you sustained, how you’ve been impacted by the incident in question and how your quality of life has been affected in general.

By choosing to work with our panel of medical negligence lawyers, they can organise this appointment for you as conveniently as possible. This way, you can focus on your recovery while they build your case on your behalf. To learn more about how we could help you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today for a free consultation.

Clinical Negligence Statistics

There are many reasons why medical negligence could occur. Whether accidental or deliberate, receiving substandard care is never acceptable. In this section, we’ll provide some findings from recent reports on medical negligence, examining how it could happen and the types of claims that patients commonly make after experiencing it.

First, though, we’ll consider the latest statistics on medical negligence provided by the NHS.

  • There were 11,682 new clinical negligence claims and reported incidents in 2019/20, an increase of around 1,000 cases on the year before.
  • 15,550 medical negligence claims were resolved in 2019/20. Only 0.6% of cases made it to trial.
  • Maternity claims are the highest value area, representing 50% of the total value of all clinical negligence claims.
  • The total cost of harm arising from clinical negligence in 2019/20 was £8.3 billion.

Let’s look at how medical negligence can happen.

Diagnostic Error & Prescription Error

From missed diagnoses to misdiagnoses, diagnostic errors are a common subject of medical negligence cases. If you find yourself in this type of situation, you could be entitled to compensation for any suffering that it’s caused you. Some examples of diagnostic errors include:

  • Failing to recognise medical signs
  • Not carrying out sufficient testing
  • Delayed or lack of referral to a specialist 
  • Misreading test results or symptoms

If you believe that you’ve been misdiagnosed or not received a diagnosis when you should have, we urge you to seek help from a healthcare professional. In doing so, you could explore other options that could explain your concerns. Ultimately, you should never ignore your instincts when it comes to your health.

Another common cause of medical negligence that can result from diagnostic errors is prescription errors. A 2012 report conducted by the NHS found that around 1 in every 20 prescriptions dispensed were incorrect. Some of the most common prescription errors included in the report were:

  • Incorrect doses taken due to improper instruction
  • Patients being poorly monitored after beginning a new prescription
  • Insufficient checks made to ensure that patients can take simultaneous prescriptions

Treatment Error

Another type of medical negligence is that occurring in treatment, or lack of it. Some examples of this could include:

  • Failure to conduct necessary examinations
  • Lack of consideration given to medical history
  • Substandard quality of care

A 2020 report conducted by the NHS investigating Never Events, a term defined as serious incidents that are wholly avoidable, found that around 205 occurred within the organisation in that year alone. Some of the most common Never Events included in the report were:

  • Surgery carried out on the wrong area
  • Foreign objects retained in the body after surgery
  • Gastric tubes misplaced allowing feed to be wrongly administered
  • Medication administered through the wrong route
  • Incorrect prosthesis or implants fitted in surgery

NHS Negligence Claims

As mentioned in the section above, there are many ways that medical negligence could happen and it isn’t uncommon. However, many victims decide to pursue compensation for their suffering, with the NHS alone receiving over 10,678 medical negligence claims in 2019 alone.

Areas of healthcare that received the most medical negligence claims included:

  • Emergency medicine
  • Orthopaedic surgery (musculoskeletal systems)
  • Obstetrics (pregnancy, labour and postpartum)

In addition, areas of healthcare that had claims valued the highest included:

  • Obstetrics 
  • Emergency medicine 
  • Paediatrics (infants, children and young people)
  • Orthopaedic surgery 
  • Neurology (nervous system, the brain and the spinal cord)

But did you know that medical negligence claims cost the NHS around £8 billion every year?

In England, all hospital trusts contribute to a collective claims fund called the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts. This is a financial pot responsible for funding claims and legal fees, administered by NHS Resolution, the board handling clinical negligence claims made against the organisation. Between 2019 and 2020, hospital trusts were expected to have contributed a total of around £1.9bn to this scheme.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51180944

Types Of Cases Handled By Medical Negligence Solicitors

As seen over the course of this article, there are many reasons why medical negligence could occur, whether accidental or deliberate. Some examples include, but are by no means limited to:

  • Misdiagnosis or a missed diagnosis
  • Prescription errors
  • Birth injuries
  • Surgical errors
  • Dental negligence

Is There A Time Limit For Making A Medical Negligence Claim?

If you’re interested in getting compensation as part of a medical negligence claim, please be aware that you’re only entitled to make legal proceedings within the legal time limit. 

For most medical negligence claims, claimants have a time limit of 3 years, starting from the date that the incident in question occurred or the date that they realised they’d suffered as a result of it. 

However, if the claimant lacks the ability to claim for themselves, someone else can claim on their behalf. For victims that are incapacitated, the time limit is frozen, only resuming if and when they can claim. Alternatively, for victims that are under 18, the time limit is frozen, only beginning when they are of age to claim.

No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors FAQs

At this point in our guide, we’ll briefly and concisely address some questions that you may have if you’ve fallen victim to medical negligence. These could help you clear up any uncertainty that you may have about anything we’ve discussed today.

Can you sue the NHS for medical negligence?

If you suffered as a result of medical negligence while under the care of the NHS, you could be able to make a claim against them. The NHS Constitution outlines standards that the organisation expects its staff to uphold a commitment to. Therefore, a breach of this could be investigated. 

If you’d like the NHS to investigate an incident of medical negligence, it may be of use to follow their official complaints procedure. They’ll investigate and report on the incident in question and attempt to determine whether negligence was responsible for your suffering. This could show you whether you have valid grounds to make a medical negligence claim.

Do I have a case for medical negligence?

Whether you’re in the care of a hospital, GP surgery, dental surgery or the like, all healthcare providers owe you an ethical duty of care that they must abide by. As part of this duty, they must demonstrate a commitment to delivering quality care in an effective manner. However, from time to time, these standards fail to be met. Whether accidental or deliberate, providing substandard care is never acceptable. 

Providing you can prove that the medical negligence you experienced was preventable, meaning other healthcare workers would have acted differently in the same situation, you could be able to make a medical negligence claim. 

What is the average payout for medical negligence UK?

As mentioned above, medical negligence claims are valued according to the extent of the physical injuries, psychological trauma and financial losses that you were caused. 

With this in mind, there is no such thing as an average payout, as every case is unique.

Request A Callback Or Get In Touch

If you’d like to learn more about anything included in this guide, we have a team of specialist advisors available 24/7 to speak to you. You’ll get a free consultation on your situation, allowing our advisors to assess whether you could have grounds to make a valid claim. If this is the case, they can even connect you with our panel of medical negligence lawyers who can work with you on a No Win No Fee basis. 

So, with free consultations and No Win No Fee services on offer, why not get in touch with us today to see how we can help you?

Related Services

Thank you for reading our No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors guide.

 

Guide by Via

Edited by Ard