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How To Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence And Claim Compensation
Are you wondering how to make a complaint about medical negligence? If so, this guide could help. Medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients. This means they need to provide care that meets the correct standard. If there is a failure to do so, medical negligence may have occurred. In these instances, you could make a complaint to the relevant regulatory body. We will explore the process you could follow as we move through our guide.
How To Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence And Claim Compensation
Additionally, we will explore when you could be eligible to make a medical negligence claim. It will discuss the criteria that need to be met in order to have valid grounds to seek compensation, the evidence that can be gathered to strengthen a potential claim, and the compensation that could potentially be awarded if a claim succeeds.
Our guide concludes with an overview of how a solicitor offering their services in a No Win No Fee capacity could help you.
For more information, please contact an advisor using the contact details below:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use the chat box in the corner
- Discuss your claim online
Browse Our Guide
- How To Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence
- Can I Take Legal Action For Medical Negligence?
- Examples Of Clinical And Medical Negligence
- How Much Compensation For Medical Negligence Could You Claim?
- Check If You Could Make A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
- Learn More About How To Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence
How To Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence
You may be wondering how to make a complaint about medical negligence. There are several regulatory bodies that you could contact. However, who you make your complaint to will depend on where you have experienced a substandard level of care. For example, you could submit a complaint to your GP surgery, dental surgery, or the hospital in which you received poor care.
Examples of some of the parties where you could submit your complaint include:
- NHS Resolution. This is the body that provides expertise to the NHS on resolving concerns and disputes fairly.
- General Medical Council. This is the independent regulator for doctors in the UK. They can review any concern you bring forward and may investigate further if necessary.
- Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. They make final decisions on complaints that have been left unresolved by the NHS in England, and other public organisations in the UK.
We Can Help You With Your Complaint
If you are unsure of the process involved in making a complaint for poor medical service, please get in touch with our team.
An advisor can provide further guidance on the complaints procedure you can follow. Also, they can assess whether you are eligible to bring forward a claim for medical negligence. You can get in touch by calling the number above to learn more.
Can I Take Legal Action For Medical Negligence?
In order to be eligible to make a claim for medical negligence, you must ensure the following criteria have been met:
- A duty of care was owed – Medical professionals owe all of their patients a duty of care. This means they need to provide care that meets the correct standard.
- There was a breach of duty of care – If a medical professional provides you with care that falls below the acceptable standard, this would constitute a breach of duty.
- You experienced avoidable harm – The breach of duty needs to have caused you harm that could have otherwise been avoided.
How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?
As well as meeting the criteria above, you must also begin your medical negligence claim within a certain time period. The Limitation Act 1980 states that you will generally have 3 years from the date of the medical negligence, or the date you became aware of it. However, there are exceptions to this time limit.
For more information on the eligibility criteria, including the time limit, for medical negligence claims, please speak with an advisor on the number above.
Examples Of Clinical And Medical Negligence
There are various types of medical negligence. We’ve provided you with some examples in this section. However, the list below is not exhaustive, and there are examples outside of these scenarios.
- Misdiagnosis – You may have visited the hospital with clear symptoms of a fractured ankle. However, the doctor misreads your scan and incorrectly diagnoses you with a sprain.
- Surgical errors – A surgeon may have operated on the wrong part of your body. For example, your right leg may have been amputated instead of your left.
- Prescription errors – You may be prescribed the wrong medication or dosage to treat your illness. Taking the wrong medication could cause a reaction with other medicine you’re taking, and the wrong dosage could cause your health to deteriorate.
- Dental negligence – Your dentist may extract the wrong tooth.
You can call an advisor today to discuss your specific case. They can determine whether you have a valid claim for medical negligence. Additionally, they could help you understand the process of how to make a complaint about medical negligence.
How Much Compensation For Medical Negligence Could You Claim?
Settlements following a successful medical negligence claim can comprise two heads of claim. The first is known as general damages which compensates for the pain and suffering you’ve experienced due to medical negligence.
Medical evidence can be used, as well as a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), to help calculate the value of general damages. The JCG contains guideline compensation brackets, based on successful past court cases.
The table below contains some extracts from the JCG. You should use the figures only as a guide because settlements are calculated on a case-by-case basis.
Examples Of General Damages
| Injury | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Brain Damage | Moderately Severe: The injured person has a very serious disability, which is either physical or cognitive. | £219,070 to £282,010 |
| Moderate (i): An intellectual deficit of a moderate to severe nature with an effect on the senses, a significant risk of epilepsy and no prospect of employment. | £150,110 to £219,070 | |
| Kidney | Loss of both kidneys or damage to both kidneys that is permanent and serious. | £169,400 to £210,400 |
| Whilst one kidney will not be damaged at all, the other will be lost. | £30,770 to £44,880 | |
| Bladder | Complete loss of natural bowel function and urinary function and control with other medical complications. | Up to £184,200 |
| Total loss of control and function. | Up to £140,660 | |
| Control is seriously impaired and there is some pain and incontinence. | £63,980 to £79,930 | |
| Bowels | A complete loss of natural function as well as a dependence on colostomy. | Up to £150,110 |
| After surgery, there is some faecal urgency, as well as incontinence, typically following an injury sustained when giving birth. | In the region of £79,920 |
Special Damages For Clinical Negligence Claims
The other head of claim you could be awarded is special damages which compensate for the financial costs and losses caused by the medical negligence. For example:
- Medical expenses
- Loss of earnings
- Travel costs
- The cost of additional care at home
Get in touch today if you’d like your claim valued. Our advisors can offer a free, personalised estimate of your potential settlement.
Check If You Could Make A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
There are several benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor. For example:
- Hands-on assistance with tasks such as gathering evidence.
- Being able to ask your lawyer to clarify certain parts of the claims process.
- Help valuing your claim.
Our solicitors operate under a kind of No Win No Fee deal. Specifically, it’s known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This helps you access the services of a solicitor without the requirement of paying upfront or as your claim proceeds.
Your solicitor will take a success fee from your compensation if your claim succeeds. This is taken as a percentage, which has a legal cap. If the case fails, they do not take a success fee.
If you have an eligible claim and want to work with one of our medical negligence solicitors, get in touch today. They can also provide further guidance on how to make a complaint about medical negligence. To get in touch, you can:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use the chat box in the corner
- Discuss your claim online
Learn More About How To Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence
Other guides of ours:
- Read whether you could make a claim following delayed treatment.
- Learn about medical negligence claims for birth injuries.
- Find out about seeking compensation after an allergic reaction to medication.
Information from other sources:
- General Medical Council – Good medical practice
- NHS Resolution – Claims management
- GOV.UK – NHS Constitution For England
Call our team if you have any other questions about how to make a complaint about medical negligence, or whether you’re eligible to make a claim for the avoidable harm you experienced due to the failings of a medical professional.
Written by Bibby
Edited by Mitchell
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