Medical negligence claims are more common than you think. An estimated 14 million people in the UK have been affected by medical malpractice, and the numbers are growing daily. If you’re harmed by the negligence of a doctor or a hospital, it’s important to know your rights to pursue justice for yourself and your family.
What is a Medical Negligence Claim?
If you’ve been injured because of the negligence of a doctor or a hospital staff, you may be able to file a medical negligence claim with the help of our Medical Negligence Solicitors. But what is a medical negligence claim, exactly?
Medical negligence is when a medical professional fails to perform an adequate level of care in treating you. This could include misdiagnosing you or giving incorrect treatment instructions, but it could also have something like accidentally leaving a scalpel inside you during surgery.
If you believe that your doctor has committed medical negligence, you may be able to file a claim against them and recover damages for your injury. You can do this through the courts or arbitration.
Three Major Mistakes
Medical negligence is a severe issue in the UK. It can have devastating effects on patients and their families, as well as on the medical staff who are involved.
During a medical negligence claim, three major mistakes can be made that could undermine your case:
1) Failure to get evidence
If you have been harmed by medical negligence, you must gather all the relevant information about the incident and organise it in a file. This information should include any documents related to the incident (such as records from your doctor), photos or videos of your injuries, and any other evidence that could help prove your case. It would be best to record everything about your experience with doctors and hospitals during treatment because it can be used as evidence later on.
2) Failure to report incidents promptly
When you are injured, you must report the incident to the hospital as soon as possible. If you fail to do so, the courts will not allow you to pursue a claim. Therefore, you can only follow a claim if you have reported it within this timeframe.
Your failure to report an incident may also mean that the hospital cannot be held liable for your injuries because they were not notified in time and therefore could not have prevented them from happening.
3) Failing to follow up on a complaint or concern
You must follow up with your doctor if you have concerns about your treatment. Doctors are busy and may not always be able to address every problem immediately, but if you keep pressing them and let them know that the issue is important to you, they will likely take action. If you don’t feel comfortable bringing up the problem yourself, consider asking a family member or friend who knows about your condition or treatment to do so on your behalf.
Legal advice to prevent medical negligence claims
Medical negligence is when a medical professional fails to provide proper care and attention to a patient. This can result in severe injury or death, or it may simply be a waste of time, money, and resources for the patient and their family.
Medical negligence claims in the UK can be pretty complex, so you must seek legal advice from our expert medical negligence lawyer in the UK, having experience with these types of cases. By seeking legal advice early on, you’ll be able to determine whether there’s sufficient evidence to make a claim.
If you suspect your doctor has been negligent in their care of you, then it’s best to contact a solicitor as soon as possible so they can investigate further and advise you on what steps to take next.
