When Can I Sue the NHS For Negligent Medical Care?
You are legally entitled to make a claim for compensation if you or a loved one have been the victim of negligent medical care and have suffered a poor outcome as a result.
Types of medical negligence
You may be entitled to make a claim for compensation if there has been a breach of duty in the course of your medical care. If a medical professional has failed in some way, such as the following:
- A failure to recognise symptoms leading to a misdiagnosis and poor outcome
- A failure to examine where it would normally be considered necessary
- A failure to make an appropriate referral or seek a second opinion where necessary
- A delay in carrying out treatment
- Negligence in the course of treatment such as substandard surgery or the misadministration of medication
- A failure to monitor a patient appropriately allowing symptoms to develop or deteriorate
- A failure to provide adequate safety-netting
The impact of medical negligence
If the breach of duty or negligent care has caused you to suffer some degree of harm and on-going symptoms, you may be able to claim compensation. For example, if your negligent care has left you restricted in the extent to which you can work, affecting your income, or means that you require personal care or specialist treatment, those financial losses would be taken into account in a compensation claim in so far as they have been caused by the negligence.
If there has been a breach of duty in the course of your medical care but it has not had a significant impact on you, a claim for compensation may not be appropriate.
When to claim
Finally, it is important to bear in mind that claims for medical negligence compensation must be initiated within three years of the date of the alleged act of negligence. This is not the date by which you should contact a solicitor. A solicitor will need plenty of time to obtain your medical records and investigate the quality of your care before a claim is issued. If you think that you or a loved one might have been the victim of negligent medical care, it is advisable to contact a solicitor as promptly as possible.
Contact a specialist solicitor
If you believe that you or a loved one may have been the victim of negligent medical care, contact Glynns Solicitors for an expert legal opinion. We are a dedicated medical negligence legal practice with a team of experts, one of whom will be happy to talk to you, free of charge, about the suitability of making a claim for compensation.
Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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