NHS Referral Delays and When to Claim Compensation
Depending on the condition from which you or a loved one are suffering, a delay in a referral can make very little difference or can be utterly life-changing, even life-threatening.
Delays in medical referrals
If a delay in making a referral for further investigation of a medical condition has left you or a loved one struggling with debilitating symptoms, it may be possible to make a claim for compensation.
Such a referral may be from your GP to a consultant or for further tests, such as an MRI scan or ultrasound, or from a medical practitioner in Accident and Emergency to a specialist department.
For many conditions, a referral delay can prove disastrous. In relation to cancer, for example, or a severe infection, or compression of a nerve, or a heart condition or the threat of a stroke.
The right to compensation
If a patient suffers a poor outcome following negligent medical care, which they would not have experienced with an appropriate level of care, they are legally entitled to claim compensation.
As well as addressing the patient's pain and suffering, a successful compensation claim will incorporate the patient's financial losses, both past and future, insofar as they have been caused by the negligent care.
For example, if a patient is unable to work because of their symptoms, which are the result of their negligent care, a successful claim would incorporate their loss of income. Likewise, if medical negligence has rendered an individual dependent on personal care, the associated costs would be taken into account.
When to make a claim
You may be entitled to make a claim if there has been a breach of duty in the course of your medical care, such as a significant delay in making an essential referral, and that the negligence has caused you to suffer a worse outcome than would otherwise have been the case.
It is important to be aware that claims for compensation for medical negligence are associated with a legal deadline for issuing with a court of three years from the date of the alleged negligence.
A specialist solicitor will need plenty of time in advance of this deadline, however, to investigate the quality of your care and its impact on you, if any.
Moving forward
The first step towards making a claim is to talk to a legal specialist. They will be able to obtain your medical records and investigate whether or not you have been the victim of negligent care.
Glynns Solicitors is a medical negligence legal practice with wide-ranging expertise in this complex area of law.
Contact us today to talk to a solicitor, free of charge, about the possibility of making a claim.
Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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