Medical Negligence Claims Solicitors

Medical Negligence FAQs

• Do I have a medical negligence claim?

  If you consider that you or anyone in your family have suffered injury as a result of sub-standard medical treatment, you could be entitled to make a compensation claim for the injuries and financial losses suffered. To successfully bring a claim we will need to obtain medical evidence to demonstrate that:

  1. The medical professionals who treated you (or failed to treat you) owed a duty of care which was breached by following a course of action not supported by a reasonable body of medical opinion.
  2. As a result of the breach of duty, you have suffered injury and financial loss.

  Subject to proving the above, we will proceed with your compensation claim.

• How do I make a medical negligence claim?

  1. Get in touch

  For a free initial consultation, contact our medical negligence team on 020 7288 4800 or complete our online medical negligence enquiry form.

  2. Funding options

  We’ll help you determine the best funding arrangement for you. Read our legal fees guide to find out more about the different funding options available.

  3. Medical records

  We’ll request copies of your medical records to identify incidences of substandard treatment.

  4. Expert opinion

  If your medical records support your claim, we’ll instruct a medical expert to examine you and provide a report on the harm caused by the negligence.

  5. Letter of claim

  Once we have received supportive evidence from the medical experts, we will write a formal “letter of claim” to the medical professional(s) responsible for the substandard treatment.

• Can I claim against the NHS, GPs or Private Hospitals?

  If you’ve received substandard medical treatment, you may be able to make a medical negligence claim against whoever is responsible. Some of the individuals and organisations you could bring a medical negligence claim against include:

  • NHS medical negligence claims: The publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) can make an incredible difference to the lives and wellbeing of those who are ill. But, busy and under-pressure, NHS staff may make mistakes that could cause you injury or harm. Learn more about making an NHS medical negligence claim after receiving sub-standard care.
  • GP medical negligence claims: General Practitioners (GPs) are often the first port of call when you fall ill. You rely on them to assess issues and recommend the correct course of action. This means if GPs fail to provide the right standard of care, it could be disastrous to your health. Find out how to make a GP medical negligence claim if you believe your GP has been negligent.
  • Hospital medical negligence claims: You rely on hospital staff and the medical practitioners in the hospital to take care of you while you’re getting specialist care. But, there are times when hospitals might fail in their duty of care to you and cause you to suffer unnecessarily. Learn about the types of hospital medical negligence claims you could make, and what making a claim might involve.
  • Accident and Emergency medical negligence claims: Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments provide round-the-clock care and often see patients at their most critical. At times, this can mean errors are made and things go wrong in disastrous ways. Find out how you can make a claim against an A&E department if this happens.
  • Private hospital medical negligence claims: Private hospitals operate under different rules to public hospitals, and you may find yourself at a disadvantage if you’ve been mistreated by a private hospital. Read on to learn all you need to know about private hospital medical negligence claims.

• How much compensation will I receive?

  If it is proven that injury was caused by medical negligence, you will be awarded compensation.

  The level of compensation will be determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into account:

  • The severity of your injury
  • Your pain, suffering and recovery time
  • Whether or not you’re able to carry out everyday tasks

  You can claim compensation for your injury and any financial losses you may have incurred as a result of the injury. This will include any future expenses as well as covering any loss of income you might face if you’re unable to work because of your injury.

  Keep in mind that a medical negligence compensation claim is not just about seeking compensation. While the court won’t officially be able to discipline a health professional or force a hospital or individual to change how they work, the case may raise important learning points which the healthcare provider can use to make improvements to their future service. If you’d like to see a formal disciplinary process triggered, you’ll need to make a formal complaint, either using the NHS complaints procedure or other relevant complaints avenues.

• What are the time limits to make a claim?

  Strict time limits apply to medical negligence claims. If missed, this could result in losing the right to claim compensation.

  There’s usually a time limit of three years for bringing a medical negligence claim, but crucially, this can either be:

  • Three years from the time the negligence occurred, or
  • Three years from when you first become aware that there was a problem (if this was later than the time at which the negligence occurred)

  It’s important to consult with a solicitor as soon as you’ve become aware of a problem (or have a suspicion that something was amiss) as it’ll take some time to gather all the information your solicitor needs to issue a claim in court.

  Other times when the three-year limit might not apply include:

  • If the patient is under the age of 18. If a child under the age of 18 suffered medical negligence, they have three years from the date of their 18th birthday to bring a claim.
  • If the patient lacks the mental capacity to understand what has happened. In this case, there is typically no immediate time limit to bring a claim. However, if the patient recovers their mental capacity, the three-year limit will apply from the date they recovered it.
  • If the patient has died, their family has three years from their death to make a claim on behalf of the estate. This is still the case if the incident of medical negligence occurred years beforehand. Read more about medical negligence after death in our article.

  If the time to make a claim has expired, it’s still worth obtaining legal advice as there may be some limited circumstances in which a court will allow you to make a claim.

  Our best advice would be to contact medical negligence solicitors for advice as soon as you’ve realised something may have gone wrong with your treatment, to avoid falling foul of the strict rules regarding time limits to bring a claim.

• What happens if my claim is successful?

  Protecting your means-tested benefits

  Your financial circumstances change when you receive compensation. This means your means-tested benefits may be at risk. You can protect your entitlement by setting up a personal injury trust.

  Investment advice

  Investing your compensation requires careful thought and specialist advice. We can make recommendations of appropriate advisors on request.

  Rehabilitation

  Your medical situation and future prospects may be improved by rehabilitation and treatment. We have arrangements with medical services providers to get you back on your feet as soon as possible.

• What can medical negligence compensation pay for?

  Compensation is there to ensure that you get the support you need in your day to day life following an injury. A good level of compensation can help to ensure that you can access the care and support you need for your individual needs for the rest of your life.

  Compensation can help you to manage:

  • Loss of earnings due to your injury
  • Further treatments
  • Adaptations to your home
  • Care costs
  • Expenses

• Who will pay my legal costs?

  If you have a claim, we will find a way to fund it for you. The four main types of funding are:

  1. ‘No win no fee’ agreement
  2. Legal Expenses Insurance
  3. Legal Aid
  4. Paying privately

  When you win your claim, it is usual for the Defendant to pay most, if not all, of your legal costs. We have a specialist team who work to ensure the costs process is dealt with speedily and to your advantage.

• What can I do if I’m not happy with my medical negligence solicitor?

  If you’ve already started a claim with another solicitor but are unhappy with the service you’re receiving, you are allowed to change your solicitor without having to justify why. Going through a litigation process is stressful as it is, and you’re fully entitled to move to a different firm if you’re unhappy with your current one, particularly if the relationship of trust and confidence has broken down. If you’d like to discuss moving from your current solicitor firm to a solicitor from Bolt Burdon Kemp, just give us a call or send us a message using our contact form.

  If you decide we could be a better fit for you, we can contact your old solicitor to get all the information we need and transfer your case. You may still need to pay your old solicitors for the time they spent on your claim, but we can help you with this, too. Find out more about this process in our article on the subject.

• How long will my medical negligence claim take?

  Medical negligence compensation claims can take time to settle. Your claim could take anything from 18 months to 4 years, although the latter is usually only if court proceedings are required. Most cases of medical negligence are settled (or denied) before they get to trial, so you may find your claim takes less than this from start to end. Cases involving children, or those where the effects of the negligence have not been fully borne out, will often prolong claims – but it is important to understand the extent of the effects of any negligence so that you can be properly compensated.

  It can take a minimum of 3-4 months for your solicitor to gather all the expert medical evidence they need for your claim. If a number of expert reports are needed, or the experts are particularly busy, this can also have an effect on the length of time it takes to get evidence from them. Once your solicitor has gathered all the information they need, they’ll put together a letter of claim to send to the healthcare provider in question. The healthcare provider has 14 days to acknowledge receipt of the letter of claim.

  The healthcare provider then has four months within which to investigate your claim and send a full response. In their response, they must clearly accept full or partial responsibility, or deny the claim.

  If they admit responsibility, the value of the claim then needs to be agreed. We will ask for some of your compensation to be paid to you at this stage. These interim payments can help pay for any medical care, treatment, support or equipment you might need while your claim is ongoing.

  In some cases, a formal apology for the negligent treatment will also be made.

  If the healthcare provider denies the claim, their response must clearly explain why this is the case. If responsibility for the claim is denied or a settlement cannot be agreed, court proceedings may need to be started. If your case does go to trial, the court hearing could take between 3-5 days depending on the complexity of the case and the number of experts and witnesses involved.