Medical Negligence FAQs
1. How do I know if I have a claim?
Medical negligence, also known as clinical negligence, claims arise from treatment by a medical professional. This can be treatment at your GP practice, at hospital, by your dentist or treatment by any other medical professional. There are a wide variety of medical negligence claims including problems at birth and treatment which has gone wrong. There is no hard and fast rule but in general, if you have had treatment which you think has not gone well, then you may have grounds to bring a claim.
2. What do I need to do before I bring a claim?
- It helps if you can prepare an account of what has happened to you and what you think has gone wrong.
- You can make a formal complaint to the doctor or organisation which has carried out the treatment. If you don’t feel you can do this yourself, we can help you with this.
- If you are given any letters or medical notes you should keep these safe. We can always still obtain these ourselves.
3. How do I know if my claim will succeed?
For a claim to succeed, it needs to be proved that the doctor or person treating you was at fault. This is generally known as negligence. The fact that your treatment may have gone wrong does not automatically mean that the doctor was negligent. We will take full details from you as to what has happened and advise whether you have grounds to bring a claim.
4. What injury can I claim for?
You can claim for any injury caused by the negligence. For example, if you have an injury before you have the treatment, you will not be able to claim for the injury itself but you will be able to claim for the fact that the treatment has made the injury worse rather than better.
5. How much compensation will I receive?
The compensation for your injury depends upon the severity of the injury itself. There are published guidelines which give a range of compensation for different injuries. When your claim is ready for settlement, we will carry out detailed research and advise you on the appropriate compensation you should receive.
