What To Do When You Fear You’ve Been A Victim Of Medical Negligence

Having any sort of medical problem can be very scary and leave us feeling very vulnerable, so it’s fortunate that we have a free healthcare system to look after us when an issue arises. Usually, the NHS will provide quality care to you in the event that you are sick, and provide it in a compassionate and caring way. 

However, doctors are human, and they do make mistakes. Occasionally, they can seriously harm a patient or fail to treat their condition properly, and in these cases, the patient may have a case for clinical negligence. If you feel that you have been a victim of medical negligence, but aren’t sure what to do, read on to discover the first three steps you should be taking.

What Is Medical Negligence?

Simply put, medical negligence is when you have suffered injury because of a healthcare provider. Some examples of this are: 

• The healthcare provider made a mistake 
• You were given the wrong drug
• You did not give informed consent to a treatment 
• The healthcare provider made the wrong diagnosis or failed to diagnose you at all
• You were not warned about the risks of a certain treatment 

Even you feel you may have suffered from poor treatment, your treatment may not necessarily be considered negligent and, therefore, you can only claim compensation if your lawyer can prove that your treatment was negligent and that this was a direct cause of your injury.

Look into Compensation

For some injuries and losses, there are special government compensation schemes and you might have the right to compensation under these schemes, without having to take legal action. For example, if you have suffered damage as a result of a vaccine, you can make a compensation claim to the vaccine damage payment unit.

If you qualify, this route can be a much less stressful option compared to paying for a solicitor and can help validate any pain you have endured.

Take Legal Action

If you definitely feel like you have been a victim of medical negligence, the first step is to take your case to a solicitor. You must start your claim three years from when the incident happened or when you first realised that you’d suffered an injury. It’s best to seek advice from medical negligence lawyers as soon as possible rather than waiting because medical negligence cases can be very complex to investigate. 

Many people are discouraged from making a medical negligence claim because of expensive legal fees since there is no longer any legal aid available to cover clinical negligence claims UK. If they lose, it’s possible they could lose a lot of money. However, for those who don’t have a lot of disposable income, the most popular option is no-win no-fee medical negligence compensation claims, also called ‘conditional fees.’ This is when you only pay your solicitors fees if you win your case, which encourages medical negligence solicitors to only take on cases they feel can win, which takes the stress away from the claimant.