What is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence or clinical negligence occurs when the care given by a healthcare professional falls below the expected standards. This covers any situations during which wrong, accidental, or substandard care is provided and in turn causes a patient injury or makes an existing condition worse.
All medical professionals have a duty of care towards their patients and should be held accountable when this duty of care is breached and could have negative effects on your health. Bringing a medical negligence claim can help to prevent the same mistake from happening again.
What could my medical negligence claim be worth?
According to the National Health Service Litigation Authority, the average pay-out in the UK is £50,000.
However, all medical negligence cases are different and the amount of compensation you could receive depends on different factors such as physical damage you’ve suffered, as well as, special damages such as psychological damage, loss of earnings, time is taken off work, and any changes to your life.
The Judicial College Guidelines can give us an idea of pay-outs for specific injuries such as:
- Injuries to internal organs could be as high as £146,000
- Injuries that paralyse all or part of the body can range from £39,000 to £322,000
- Injuries resulting in brain damage or sensory loss could be as high as £322,000
What type of medical negligence can I claim for?
Many types of medical negligence could be the reason to bring a medical negligence claim, these can include:
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Negligent cosmetic procedures
- Mistakes during dental work
- Care home negligence
- Pressure sore claims
- Incorrect surgery
- Birth injuries
What are the time limits for making claim?
In most cases, you will have either three years from the date of your injury or three years from the date that you found out that you had suffered medical negligence, to make a claim.
However, some exceptions are made to this, these can include:
- If the medical negligence claim involves a child, then you can claim on their behalf anytime up until their 18th After that date, they will have three years to make a claim themselves.
- If you or the person you’re claiming for is ‘mentally incapacitated’ – that is, unable to claim for reasons such as brain damage, then there is no time limit.
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