Hi all,
I just wondered if anyone had sought a medical negligence claim against an NHS hospital? I’m going to speak to some solicitors about how credible our claim may be, but I just wondered if anyone had any personal experiences they wouldn’t mind sharing?
Jess x
I haven’t but my cousin has. It took yrs to complete and I attended some of the meetings with her, as well as the inquest. That was an experience in itself. The outcome was in her favour, but the issue she fought for was that someone be held to account for her hubbys treatment and then death.
x
CAB for this one … STRONGLY RECOMMENDED :
Get advice about health costs and services - Citizens Advice
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Clinical negligence in the NHS - taking legal action.
This advice applies to England.
NHS care is usually very good and most people don’t have any problems.
But occasionally things can go wrong.
This page tells you more about how to take legal action to get compensation for clinical negligence.
Yes, I have.
Firstly, you must make a formal complaint to the hospital/doctor yourself, and wait for a reply.
Then, you need a special “Medical Negligence” solicitor, not your local family solicitor.
Look at all your insurance policies, to see if you have “Legal Expenses Insurance”. I had it with two policies, and they shared the cost between them, around £10,000 in total! It was a very HEALING process for me, I could tell all my husband’s friends exactly why my husband died.
Thank you for your replies. Sorry to hear that it has been a stressful experience, but glad that you found it healing overall.
I think we have a very hard case in which to prove negligence. My husband contracted an infection which is incredibly rare to contract during a hip operation and even the senior consultant/surgeon told me it would have had to have happened during surgery and couldn’t have occurred post-operatively e.g. wound care. From what I can find out the most likely cause is not cleaning the skin properly before surgery or medical devices not being cleaned properly. The outcome of this infection was a very traumatic 5 months hospital stay and now permanent disablement.
The problem is not really proving fault I guess, but ‘negligence’ in the legal sense.
I’m going to look into it more, but I think it’s probably too much of a longshot, so to speak.
Hi Jess
Ask a medical negligence specialist solicitor, not one of the ambulance chaser no win no fee types, but a proper one. If they don’t think there’s a case they will tell you upfront, especially as it would be your husband claiming and I assume he’s only on benefits. They know there’s no fees to be had unless they have a good case.
Kr
MrsA
Thanks for the replies and advice. I’ve spoken to one solicitor so far who thinks there may be a case, but would be very difficult to prove negligence legally in my husband’s case. There is a pretty high bar to prove it in law. So not sure if it’s the best route to go down. May speak to some other solicitors to just get a few opinions, but it looks like a non-starter. I’m going to request his hospital medical records to see if anything useful or interesting is in there related to how this might have happened. They’ll be useful to have anyway and it’s free to receive them so no harm there.
It’s really important that you speak to a MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE solicitor, not one in the High Street.
I spoke to a medical negligence solicitor who is an expert in the field and is also on the board of AvMA. She was very helpful, but I still think I’ll get some more advice from other legal specialists
I’m working witha firm who does advertise on the tv. It’s been 18 months now but they have decided the case is worthy of pursuing. It involves insufficient hospital care, hospital not providing community PT when they said they would. A blood clot and poor mobility that led to no treatment upon a cancer diagnosis, and then death due to cancer.
Hi,
This is just my opinion…, do get a recommended solicitor if possible from friends. If he/she is not a specialist they may know of a nice one.
My advice is sign and check the contract in the beginning to find out what you are signing up for. By all means follow their advice, but ask for copies of what they send to the hospital and if you disagree with the text, tell them what you would like changed/included in writing or, record it in some way. At the end of the day they work for you and should be happy to discuss any issues.
We did this, but, at this point only asked for copies of the claim letters. The solicitor that I had, said that he would no longer represent us because my family member who has physical and mental health problems, came to his office with an attitude after he would not give us copies. They then tried to send me a bill for their work without pursuing the case accompanied with a blank summons for court document. I saw this as disability discrimination and fought it. I did not find that the Law Society.org were helpful either. They told me that I should pay it then try to claim. I just went to another solicitor out of town, fought, and won (they actually gave in). It is sometimes worth following your instincts if you know you are right.
p.s I personally would not recommend Boyle Solicitors in Dundee.
Best of luck.
Chris
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