We've been featured in:

Southampton Medical Negligence Solicitors No Win No Fee Claims Guide

By Meg Floyd. In this guide, we will explore the benefits of hiring the best medical negligence solicitors for Southampton to represent your claim.

If you have recently experienced an additional injury or a worsening to a pre-existing medical condition after receiving substandard care, you may wish to make a claim. An experienced solicitor could help with various types of clinical negligence claims, such as misdiagnosis of cancer, never events and medication errors.

Medical negligence solicitors Southampton

However, before you choose a solicitor to help you seek compensation, there are several factors you may wish to consider. Our guide will help you better understand how to choose the right solicitor for your case.

Furthermore, we’ll provide different examples of medical negligence, how the claims process works and what your compensation settlement may comprise.

Although we have aimed to cover the information you need in our guide, we understand you may have further questions. If so, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of advisors for free legal advice today:

  • Call us on 0800 073 8804
  • Chat with an advisor using the live chat function below
  • Fill out the contact form with your query, and an advisor will get back to you

Discover More Information On Finding The Best Medical Negligence Solicitors For Southampton In The Sections Below

  1. How Do You Define Clinical Or Medical Negligence?
  2. What Steps Should I Take To Build A Strong Clinical Negligence Claim?
  3. Finding the Best Medical Negligence Solicitors For The Southampton Area
  4. What Compensation Claims Can Our Medical Negligence Solicitors For Southampton Handle?
  5. Clinical Negligence Compensation Calculator
  6. Statistics For NHS Negligence Claims 2020/2021
  7. Choose The Best No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors For Southampton
  8. How To Make A Clinical and Medical Negligence Claim With Legal Expert
  9. Helpful Links And Additional Resources

How Do You Define Clinical Or Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence arises from a trained medical professional delivering substandard care. As a result, the patient may suffer further or avoidable harm in the form of an additional injury or worsening of a pre-existing condition.

There are several ways a patient could experience harm due to negligence in a medical setting. For example:

  • Incorrectly performed blood transfusion: A doctor may have failed to check patient notes before performing a blood transfusion. As a result, they may have distributed the wrong blood type causing a patient to experience an avoidable reaction.
  • Stroke misdiagnosis: A doctor may have failed to order a brain scan and other relevant tests to diagnose you correctly despite having clear stroke symptoms. As a result, you may have experienced complications due to delayed treatment caused by a misdiagnosis.
  • First aid negligence: A well-intending member of the public may have incorrectly performed first aid treatment due to not being first aid trained. As a result, the casualty may have experienced additional injuries or had their existing injuries made worse.

In these or other similar instances, the affected person may wish to claim compensation.

If you have experienced something similar while receiving care either at an NHS or private healthcare facility, we could help. Our experienced medical negligence solicitors for Southampton could help you through the different stages of your claim.

Please call the number at the top of the page for more information.

How Much Has Been Paid Out For Medical Negligence Claims In Southampton?

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust paid out over £28.8m as a result of medical negligence claims in the last year, LegalExpert.co.uk has found.

A Freedom of Information request found that the Trust had dealt with 61 claims during July 2022 to July 2023. During this same period, the Trust had received 440 complaints.

Out of those complaints, 224 related to poor standards of clinical and nursing care.

Overall, the Trust was listed at number two in terms of medical negligence claim payouts when compared to other Trusts in England and Wales.

The full top ten can be found below:

  1. Barts Health NHS Trust – 173 claims – £51,453,067
  2. University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust – 61 claims – £28,804,107
  3. University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust – 135 claims – £24,584,797
  4. University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust – 90 claims – £20.6m
  5. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust – 77 claims –  £13,511,879
  6. Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust – 38 claims – £13.5m 
  7. Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust – 89 claims – £13,349,173 
  8. Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 51 claims – £13,060,958
  9. Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – 156 claims –  £12,612,678 
  10. Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust – 151 claims – £11,581,920.40

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like one of our No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors to assist you with making a medical negligence claim.

What Steps Should I Take To Build A Strong Clinical Negligence Claim?

During the claims process, medical evidence and other factors will be considered to determine whether:

  • You were provided with care that fell below the expected standard
  • You sustained further or avoidable harm as a result

For that reason, if you wish to seek compensation for medical negligence, you may find it beneficial to seek legal advice from the best medical negligence lawyers covering your area.

An experienced solicitor could help you gather relevant medical evidence you need to provide in support of your claim. Evidence, such as hospital or doctor records, may be used to determine whether the correct steps were taken to provide you with the required standard of care.

However, it’s important to note that the Bolam test may also be considered. The test involves a group of healthcare professionals trained in a relevant area of medicine assessing your case to determine if you received the correct care.

Additionally, you may be required to attend an independent medical assessment to produce a report detailing the current state of your condition.

However, if you choose to hire medical negligence solicitors for Southampton, they could arrange for you to attend the additional exam in your local area.

What Is The Medical Negligence Time Limit?

Please be aware that medical negligence claims have a time limit of three years as per the Limitation Act 1980.

The three years may start either from the date the incident occurred or the date you became aware that someone else’s failure caused or contributed to the harm you sustained.

However, this could be extended in certain circumstances, such as for anyone under the age of 18 or anyone who lacks the mental capacity to claim themselves.

For more information on whether you’re eligible to claim, please contact our team to discuss your case in more detail.

Finding the Best Medical Negligence Solicitors For The Southampton Area

There are several important factors you may wish to consider to ensure you choose the best solicitors for medical negligence to represent your claim. For example, making sure you choose a solicitor who has knowledge and experience with the medical negligence claims process could be beneficial.

An established legal advisory service like Legal Expert could provide you with an expert solicitor for your particular case.

Each of our solicitors has experience handling claims similar to your own. Additionally, they could take your case on a No Win No Fee basis, which means you could avoid paying an upfront fee often needed for a solicitor to start working on your claim.

For more information, please contact our team on the number above. Alternatively, see the sections below for more information on choosing the right solicitor for you.

Should You Read Reviews Of Medical Negligence Solicitors?

Reviews could provide you unbiased information on the services a solicitor offers and how well they communicate with their clients throughout the claims process.

Additionally, they could help you understand the quality of the services they provide.

If you’d like to learn more about our solicitors, you could check the reviews left by previous claimants on our website. Alternatively, you could speak with an advisor for further information.

Should I Use Local Medical Negligence Solicitors In Southampton?

We understand you may be wondering, ‘should I use medical negligence solicitors near me?’.

Although it may have been more convenient to choose medical negligence solicitors in Southampton in the past, it’s not necessary anymore. The reason being, you can keep in regular contact with your solicitor through email or telephone rather than having to meet face to face.

Consequently, it gives you more freedom to focus on finding solicitors who deal with clinical negligence cases and know how the process works.

What Compensation Claims Can Our Medical Negligence Solicitors For Southampton Handle?

Our medical negligence lawyers could help with many types of medical negligence claims, such as:

  • Cancer misdiagnosis claims or other cancer negligence claims
  • Nursing home compensation claims
  • NHS negligence claims
  • Cosmetic surgery claims
  • Delayed diagnosis claims
  • Surgical negligence claims

We have provided more detail on some of the other claims we handle in the sections below.

However, if none of the examples fit your specific case, please contact our team to discuss whether our solicitors could help.

Hospital Negligence Claims

If you have experienced hospital negligence arising from substandard care or treatment in either a private or NHS establishment, we could help. 

Claims could arise from the following incidents of clinical negligence:

  • Surgical errors: A surgeon may have failed to follow pre-surgical protocol before operating. As a result, they may have operated on the wrong part of the body.
  • Poor hygiene: A patient may have developed MRSA whilst staying in hospital due to medical staff failing to follow the correct hygiene measures.

For more information on how medical compensation lawyers could help, contact our team on the number above.

Dental Medical Negligence 

A dental negligence claim could be made if a dental professional failed to meet the required standard of care when treating a patient. For instance:

  • The dentist may have extracted the wrong tooth causing a patient further harm in the form of an additional injury and delayed treatment of the original injury. 
  • An orthodontist may have fit a dental implant incorrectly, causing the patient to develop an avoidable infection. 
  • A dentist may have performed a root canal treatment with the incorrect equipment causing the patient to experience significant scarring. 

Our medical negligence solicitors for Southampton could help you make a compensation claim for dental negligence. Call our team on the number above for more information.

GP Medical Negligence Claims

All doctors are expected to meet the minimum standard of care when treating a patient, including taking reasonable steps to ensure the patient doesn’t experience avoidable harm. 

For example, it may be necessary for a doctor to refer you for further tests if you exhibit clear symptoms of a condition that requires further attention. If they fail to do so, you may experience your condition worsening in a way that could have been avoided. 

In these instances, you may wish to make a GP negligence claim.

Birth Negligence Claims

If a medical professional fails to provide you with the correct standard of care during labour, it could result in both mother and baby experiencing a traumatic or life-changing birth injury.

Some birth injuries are unavoidable, even with the expected level of care. However, birth injury incidents caused by negligence might include:

  • A midwife may have failed to ensure the baby received adequate oxygen during the delivery. As a result, the baby may have experienced hypoxia leading to cerebral palsy due to minor brain damage.
  • The midwife may have failed to diagnose the mother with pre-eclampsia despite exhibiting clear symptoms of the condition. As a result, the mother may have experienced seizures caused by eclampsia.

A specialist medical negligence solicitor could help you identify whether you could be eligible for a claim for NHS medical negligence compensation or medical compensation against a private hospital.

Please get in touch with our team for more information on cerebral palsy claims or other birth claims.

Clinical Negligence Compensation Calculator

The settlement package for each medical negligence claim is calculated on a case by case basis. For that reason, it’s difficult to provide an accurate figure of how much you could receive.

However, you could use our medical negligence compensation calculator to get an estimated figure. Please only use the figure you receive as a guide, though, because your actual settlement will vary.

If you choose to work with medical negligence solicitors for Southampton, they could accurately value your claim as part of the services they offer.

Alternatively, please see the sections below to find out what your settlement may comprise and how it may be calculated.

What Could I Claim Compensation For?

As part of the claims process, you’re entitled to seek compensation for any physical or psychological injuries you sustained under general damages.

However, the amount of compensation you receive will depend on several factors, including:

  • The severity of your condition
  • The extent to which it’s affected your quality of life

In order to accurately value your injuries, medical evidence may be used to determine the full extent and nature of your condition. Additionally, the Judicial College Guidelines may be used to help value your claim.

If you have experienced any past or future financial losses directly as a result of your injuries, you could claim them back under special damages. Monetary losses might include:

  • Loss of earnings
  • Travel expenses
  • Medical expenses
  • Care costs

However, you will need to provide evidence when seeking reimbursement for any financial losses, such as receipts and payslips.

Statistics For NHS Negligence Claims 2020/2021

Below, the table indicates the successful clinical negligence claims made against NHS Trusts in the Southampton area.

The figures are provided by NHS Resolution’s Trust and Authority Claims Data 2020/2021.

Edit
Trust Involved Number Of Successful Claims 2020/2021 Total Payments Made 2020/2021
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust 14 £4,298,166
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust 48 £10,330,311

Choose The Best No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors For Southampton

In a claim for medical negligence compensation, it may benefit you to work with a solicitor who offers No Win No Fee services such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA could allow you to avoid paying an upfront fee sometimes needed for a solicitor to begin working on your case.

It’s important to note that although putting forward a medical negligence claim bears no initial cost, other costs may incur while your claim is ongoing.

For instance, you may be required to pay for medical evidence to support your case. However, the CFA will cover costs such as these.

Furthermore, as part of the CFA, you won’t be required to pay solicitor fees if your claim is unsuccessful.

If a claim is successful, you will need to pay a success fee as a way to pay your solicitor for the work they’ve done on your claim. However, the fee is deducted from your compensation award as a legally capped percentage. Also, your solicitor will make you aware of the fee and what it covers before you begin your claim with them.

All of our experienced solicitors could represent your claim on this basis, so please get in touch with our team if you’d like to learn more.

How To Make A Clinical and Medical Negligence Claim With Legal Expert

We hope our guide has provided you with a better understanding of the medical negligence compensation claim process. However, we understand if you require any further information. If so, our team of advisors could help by providing free legal advice on the next steps you may wish to take.

Alternatively, if you’re ready to launch your claim, an advisor can assess your case. If they feel it has a chance of success, they could appoint one of our medical negligence solicitors for Southampton to start working on your claim.

For more information, use the details below to get in touch:

  • Call us on 0800 073 8804
  • Chat with an advisor using the live chat function below
  • Fill out the contact form with your query, and an advisor will get back to you

Helpful Links And Additional Resources

In this section, we have included more of our guides on medical negligence and other useful links.

If you require more information on the time limits for suing the NHS, our guide could help.

For more information on the different types of medical negligence, please visit our guide.

Read our guide if you have experienced medical negligence causing death to understand the rights you have to seek compensation.

Please visit the NHS Constitution For England to learn more about your patient rights.

If you’d like to raise a concern about the care you have received in England, please visit the Care Quality Commission.

Further Medical Negligence Guides

We hope you better understand how to find the best medical negligence solicitors for Southampton. However, if you have any additional questions, please contact the number at the top of the page.