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How long do I have to bring a claim?
You generally have a period of three years from the date of negligence in which to bring a claim for clinical negligence. If you were not aware of the negligent medical treatment at the time, the three year period may run from the date that you first became aware that your medical treatment may not have been satisfactory, i.e. your date of knowledge.
Where the claim is on behalf of a child, the three year period does not start to run until the child’s 18th birthday. A parent or guardian can bring the claim on behalf of the child, at any stage prior to the child’s 18th birthday.
Where the claim is on behalf of a person who does not have the mental capacity to conduct the claim and bring legal proceedings, there is no time limit to bring a claim. Such a person does require the assistance of a Litigation Friend, which is usually a parent or family member, to act on their behalf.
As a general rule, if you do not commence Court Proceedings within these time limits, your claim becomes statute barred, which means that you shall be prevented from the Courts from pursuing your claim. It is always best to contact us as soon as possible, following the alleged negligence, so that we can ensure that the limitation date is not missed.
Who can I bring a claim against?
If you have been provided with negligent medical treatment, you are entitled to bring a claim against the person or organisation who provided such care to you.
NHS - If your treatment was provided at a Hospital under the NHS, your claim shall generally be against the NHS Trust responsible for that Hospital. This can become more complicated if you have received treatment through an NHS waiting list reduction scheme or similar scheme, where the surgeon or the treatment centre are also likely to be Defendants. We will explore this with you at the outset of your claim.
Your claim may be against other NHS professionals who are not based in Hospitals, for example a physiotherapist, District Nurse, Midwife and many more. In such cases, the claim is likely to be against the local NHS Primary Care Trust.
GP – Your claim shall be brought against the individual GPs responsible for your care.
Private Treatment – If you have received medical treatment, which you have paid for on a private basis, the claim will be against the individual doctor or health care professional. If the claim also concerns care provided by the nurses or other staff at a private Hospital, the claim shall also be against the Hospital as they are responsible for the provision of all such services.
Dentist – Your claim shall be brought against the individual Dentist responsible for your care, whether this treatment was provided under the NHS or as a private paying patient.
Chemist – If a Pharmacist has issued you with the wrong prescription, your claim is likely to be against the Chemist.
Do I have a claim?
If you are concerned that you have been provided with substandard care by a health care professional, contact us for your free initial advice. Once you have provided us with details of your care, we shall advise you whether or not we consider that you have a claim to be investigated.
You are owed a duty of care by the health care professionals. To win your case we will have to show that the medical staff treating you:
- Were in breach of their duty of care to you (i.e. were negligent). You have to show that the doctor or other health care professional failed to provide you with the standard of care that is expected of all reasonable health care professionals qualified in that particular speciality. The health care professionals do not have to show that they gave you the best possible care, only that their care was reasonable;
- That you suffered injury (this can be physical and/or psychological); and
- That your injury was caused by the negligence. You will have to prove that there is a more than 51% chance that you would not have suffered the injury had you received the correct treatment.
We instruct Medical Experts to consider these issues and advise us whether or not you have been provided with substandard care, which has resulted in the injury to you. If the Medical Experts support your case, we then consider the value of your claim.
In the event that you do not have a claim, but feel aggrieved by the care that you have received, you may wish to make a formal complaint to the health care professional, using the complaints process. (link to complaints process section of website here) We shall be able to assist you with the making of the complaint.
What is involved and how long does a claim take?
Clinical Negligence claims are very complex and each claim is different. Once funding is in place, the investigation stage involved the following steps:
- Obtain copies of all of your medical notes and records.
- Collate and paginate your records, preparing a detailed chronology of the relevant entries;
- Prepare a detailed witness statement, setting out your account of events;
- Instruct the appropriate Medical Experts to prepare reports upon the standard of care that you have received and the cause of your injury;
- If the Experts support your case, we then arrange for you to be examined by the Expert to prepare a report upon your current condition and future prognosis;
- Submit a Letter of Claim to the Defendant.
As a general guide, depending upon the number of Medical Experts that are required to advise in your case and the complexity of your case, it usually takes approximately 9 – 18 months to complete these steps.
Having submitted the Letter of Claim, the Defendant then has a period of four months to respond. If the Defendant admits negligence, we proceed to negotiate settlement. If the Defendant denies negligence, then we will obtain a Barrister’s advice and commence Court Proceedings. Once we start Court Proceedings, if the case goes to Trial, it will take, on average, 18 months from the commencement of Court Proceedings before your case is completed. If we need to revise the timescales for your particular case then we will let you know as the case progresses.
How much is my claim worth?
Each claim is assessed individually and no two claims are the same. The value of your claim will depend upon many factors, such as the severity of the injury that you have suffered, the effects that the injury has upon your day-to-day life and for how long the symptoms shall continue. It also depends upon whether or not you have suffered a loss of earnings, if you are capable of returning to work in the future and if you now have any care needs as a result of the injury.
When considering the value of your claim, there are two elements to consider:
- Firstly, we assess the value of your physical and/or psychological injuries. We research what level of compensation has been awarded by the Courts in similar cases in the past, to provide an indication as to the likely level of compensation that you will recover.
- Secondly, we calculate your out of pocket expenses, such as your loss of earnings, care needs, travel and medical expenses. It is therefore important that you retain all receipts for items that you have had to purchase as a result of your injury.
We continually assess the value of your claim at various stages during the course of your claim and shall keep you informed when the potential value changes. We cannot properly assess the value of your claim until you have been examined by the Experts and they have reported upon the effects of the injury upon your life and your future prognosis. We will also obtain a Barrister’s advice where necessary.