Medical Negligence Claim Solicitor

You might think that you can save a fortune by dealing with your medical negligence claim on your own, but stop and think, do you believe you can deal with all the medio-legal complexities? Without a professional to advise you, you might find yourself in a worse situation then when you started.

Statistics taken by the NHSLA about medical negligence claims (also known as clinical negligence claims) have shown that 35% were abandoned by the claimant, 43% got a settlement out of court, 1.5% have settled in court in favour of the claimant, 0.5% settled in court in favour of the NHS and 20% remained outstanding.

Surely it can't be so complicated and you may think you have strong evidence of loss. Well, let's review some of the things you should bear in mind.

Even if you are sure you were a victim of medical negligence, it doesn't mean you were according to the Law. You will need strong proof that:

1) Your injury and loss are true;
2) Your loss was caused by the person you are accusing;
3) There was a duty of care or medical negligence which caused the injuries.
You might have witnesses, but a Court won't take them into account if the doctor can prove he acted by following a reasonable medical policy.

Also, do you know you only have three years to claim? Maybe you started to feel the injuries after a long time. So can you bring a claim 7 years after a negligent incident which has caused injury or illness? Do you know what to look for in medical records? Do you know the right kind of medical specialist to instruct to help your case? This is exactly where an experienced medical negligence solicitor can be invaluable. And it is a complex area of law - so you do need a solicitor who really specializes in this area, preferably one who is on either the Law Society Medical Negligence Panel or the AVMA panel - ideally both.

So, you decide that your claim is worth pursuing. Where do you start?

1) Prepare your claim in writing.
2) State the facts in chronological order with names of hospital and doctors.
3) Explain what happened to you and why you believe that your injury was caused by medical negligence. Do say if you have already lodged a complaint and what happened as a result of this.