What do I need in order to make a medical claim?
Doctors and nurses are commonly regarded as providing excellent, caring service for their patients, however if you have been injured or are the dependent or child of a patient who died as a result of medical negligence, you are at the very least entitled to an explanation. A treating doctor, is required by the governing body to inform a patient when the treatment has gone wrong.
What is Medical Negligence?
Where the death or injury was caused or contributed to by the breach of duty of care committed in the course of the medical treatment. This includes nurses and dental services and you may be entitled to financial compensation, which is termed ‘clinical negligence' or more commonly known as ‘medical negligence.'
If you were treated as a private patient, and paid the doctor, you may be able to claim for breach of contract if your medical treatment was substandard.
Making a medical claim;
Step 1 – Finding a solicitor:
Call us now and speak to our claims executive who can assess your claim on 0800 0199 299. Find out if you have a claim today.
Give all the information and evidence you have and a concise written statement, stating chronologically all relevant events, names of health carers and other witnesses.
You may need to tell your dedicated solicitor if you were told about any risks involved with your treatment, advice on alternative methods, what was said at any later medical consultations and whether you have made a complaint via the NHS or the doctor.
Step 2 – Preparation:
The law allows you three years from the date of the accident to start proceedings, but there are exceptions which our experienced solicitor can advise you on.
Before the claim starts the solicitor would need to see information such as medical records, a barrister experienced in clinical negligence, organise case meetings and open negotiations with the other side.
If a claim involves death, your solicitor may decide to attend any coroner's inquest as the evidence and verdict given could prove vital in your claim.
The medical solicitor will advise you on how the claim should be funded. If the firm is on one of the clinical negligence panels he or she may be in a position to apply for public funding if your financial situation allows you to do so.
Some solicitors may work on a conditional fee agreement as known as ‘no win no fee'*, which you will be asked to sign. Your solicitor is obliged to explain the conditional fee agreement in a way you can understand.
If you have no existing legal expenses insurance, they will advise you on how ‘after the event insurance' can be taken out to over the legal costs of the NHS or doctor if your claim should fail.
Once the claim form has been issued, it should be served on the defendant personally. The defendant then has 28 days or 14 days to serve a defence.
Once served your solicitor copies will be sent to counsel and your medical expert for consideration. Your solicitor will also see whether further information is required from the defense.
Step 3 – Financing your claims:
If you win your claim, most of your costs would be recovered from the defence. If however, your claim fails then you would probably be ordered to pay the costs of the winning defence.
Therefore, it is essential that you are insured against this liability. It may be that you already have legal expenses insurance, termed ‘before the event insurance', which could cover this. Your solicitor will check for this in your householder, car or legal liability insurance policies.
Updated on 29/01/2009