What is a claim for Medical Negligence compensation?
Millions of us undergo operations each year- from life-changing surgery, to cosmetic procedures that make us feel more comfortable in our own skin. So, you’ve been to A&E at your local NHS Hospital, and whilst your completely grateful for the service the nurses, doctors and surgeons availed to you, something just doesn’t feel right- the medication they gave you makes you ill, the operation scar is infected, or your broken bone has swelled so much, and your plaster cast on your arm or leg, simply isn’t big enough. But does any of this amount to medical negligence, for which you are eligible to make a claim for compensation, or would you just put it all down to a bad experience?
MG Legal’s personal injury department has a team of expert solicitors dealing with medical negligence cases, who have won millions of pounds in compensation for our client’s over the last 10 years, so we are rather well equipped to answer this question.
In its simplest term, medical negligence is the name given to substandard care that’s been provided by a medical professional, and that substandard care has caused injury, or illness, or caused an existing illness or injury to get worse. There’s a number of ways that medical negligence can happen such as misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment or surgical mistakes.
Sometimes, it is obvious that the medical practitioner has been negligent, and that you have been made ill, or suffered an injury as a result of the substandard treatment. Examples of cases that our local solicitors dealing with medical negligence cases, have settled include, clients that have suffered burst appendix, due to the condition not being diagnosed, and clients who have been unfortunate enough to be fitted will the incorrect-sized hip replacement.
Our medical negligence solicitors have recently settled a case where a client was made ill, as a result of the medical practitioner giving him another patient’s medication.
If you have been injured as a result of negligent medical treatment, then you may be able to take legal action for compensation. MG Legal’s solicitors that deal with medical negligence cases, accept all medical negligence claims, on a NO WIN NO FEE basis.
You could also take legal action for compensation if you’re the next of kin of someone:
• who has died because of negligent medical treatment;
• who can’t take legal action themselves because they don’t have capacity.
If you are thinking of starting a claim for medical negligence compensation, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to use the NHS complaints procedure before starting legal action through your local solicitor specialising in medical negligence.
If you start a claim for clinical negligence, this shouldn’t normally prevent or delay your complaint being investigated through the NHS complaints procedure if you want it to be.
The benefits of pursuing a claim for medical negligence through your local solicitor are that, in addition to receiving compensation, your claim can also prevent the same negligence happening to another person. The medical practitioner will change the way they work, and we can ask them for an apology for their negligent acts or omissions.
Sometimes, clients come to us, and do not know if they have had a medical procedure, or not. Whilst this does sound a bit strange, in the 21st Century, due to the vast array of what is billed as non-invasive cosmetic surgery, the lines between what is a medical procedure, and therefore covered by a medical practitioner’s policy of public liability insurance, and what is a mere cosmetic surgery (think fibroblast treatment, dermal fillers, chemical peels and facial bleaching procedures) have become a little blurred.
So, how do you know when your claim is medical negligence claim, or a claim that would be covered by a beauty- practitioners, public liability insurance?
Briefly, Public Liability claims are currently classified within England & Wales as being any personal injury claim which did not occur during a Road Traffic Accident, an injury in the workplace, or in the line of Medical Practice. Public Liability, therefore, is the “catch-all” term for cases that don’t fit a specific mould.
Here at MG Legal, our dedicated personal injury solicitors handle both types of claim and so, whatever type of case you wish to pursue, you can rest assured you are in safe hands.
Have you suffered medical negligence in the last three years?
Our specialised medical negligence solicitors have 30 years of experience in all aspects of medical negligence financial compensation claims, and have achieved a success rate of over 99%. Click below to learn more about what our expert medical negligence solicitors do, and why they are the right team for you.
