What is Medical Negligence?
Clinical or Medical Negligence refers to a breach of the legal duty of care owed to you by healthcare professionals, resulting in either physical or mental harm.
A breach occurs when the standard of your treatment from a healthcare professional falls below the level which would be considered acceptable by a responsible group of professionals in the same speciality.
This includes (but is not limited to):
- Hospitals
- Dentists
- GP practices
How long do you have to bring a claim?
To bring a claim, you need to make sure you are claiming within the relevant period. This is called the ‘limitation period’.
Limitation is three years from the date of negligence or from the date you first knew you were injured as a result of negligence.
There are some exceptions to this rule, these are:
- For minors the time starts from the date they turn 18;
- For adults who are unable to manage their affairs due to a mental disorder or lack of capacity, the time starts once they regain capacity.
How do I bring a claim?
It is recommended that you instruct a Solicitor to pursue a legal claim on your behalf.
How long will a claim take?
It is hard to give an indication of how long a claim will take as it depends on many factors, including the severity of your injury, whether establishing fault on the part of the other party is straightforward, how many expert reports are required, how long these take to obtain, and whether court proceedings need to be issued. The high value claims we deal with tend to take several years to resolve.
How much does it cost to bring a claim?
There are various funding options:
- Conditional Fee/‘No Win No Fee’ Agreements – under these agreements a solicitor will only charge fees in the event they win the claim for you. If the claim is unsuccessful no money is due from you, unless you have failed to co-operate throughout the claim.
- After the event insurance – this insurance is taken out after the alleged negligence has occurred and provides you with cover in the event you become liable for any legal costs or expenses during the claim. If your claim fails, there is no fee for the insurance as it is self insuring. If your claim is successful – the cost of the insurance policy can be taken from your damages (although in claims for clinical negligence part of the premium will be recoverable from the party at fault.)
- Private funding – you can privately fund a claim.
- Before the event legal expenses insurance policies – some home or car insurance policies will cover clinical negligence claims.
Who can I claim against?
In most cases claims are brought against the relevant NHS Trust, the partners of a GP surgery or the company or person who provided the alleged negligent medical treatment.
What should I do if I think I have suffered from Medical Negligence and would like to bring a claim?
Contact our friendly and supportive team today for a no obligation discussion and we can advise you on whether we can assist you in bringing a claim for compensation. We deal with high value claims on behalf of clients who have suffered injuries as a result of clinical negligence.
Call us now on 01525 378177 or email us at info@ommlaw.co.uk
