NHS Complaints and clarity

In a recent article the Telegraph newspaper reports that the Department of Health criticised health watchdogs for a lack of transparency and for a failure to keep relatives informed when investigating mistakes made by health professionals.

Sky News reported the case of a woman who found out, through the media rather than from the watchdog conducting the investigation, that her husband could have survived his heart attack if he had been treated appropriately.

The Department of Health has criticised the fact that relatives are kept in the dark about mistakes made and promotes transparency. New Government proposals are intended to introduce a duty of candour (a contractual requirement for health care providers to be open and transparent in admitting mistakes) in a bid to promote patient confidence in the NHS.

How we can help

At QualitySolicitors Oliver & Co, our team of specialist medical negligence Solicitors find that a lot of people who have complaints about the medical care they or their relatives have received, find it difficult to write an effective letter of complaint.

Some find that they do not get answers to the questions they have about their care. Some people also find that the issues they have raised about their medical care are not even investigated. The complaints process can be lengthy and daunting.

This in turn may result in patients abandoning the complaints process and instructing a solicitor to start a legal claim against the Hospital, doctor or dentist, in the hope of finding out what really happened and in the hope of getting answers to their questions.

If you have a complaint about the care you have received from a hospital doctor, GP, dentist, nurse or midwife, we may be able to help you to write a letter of complaint and help you to set out clearly the most important questions you seek an answer to. If so, we offer this service free of charge. Our help can make the complaint investigation more focussed and the answers to your questions more relevant.

Do you need help writing a letter of complaint or do you have a potential medical negligence claim?

Please contact us for advice if you feel you have suffered any form of negligent medical/dental treatment. We have a specialist team of solicitors who are always happy to help. At Quality Solicitors Oliver & Co, we are unique in that the head of our Clinical Negligence department, Linda Schermer, is a qualified doctor as well as a qualified solicitor. We therefore benefit from in-house medical knowledge and are able to get to grips with your claim and locate any areas of negligent care quickly.

Our solicitors deal with a wide variety of medical claims including missed/delayed diagnosis claims, orthopaedic injuries, drug dispensing errors and claims against GPs. Our Liz Fry also has extensive experience with claims against dentists and our Kerry Bateman has had great success in pursuing claims involving poor nursing care.

With the assistance of our paralegal Lisa Thomas and our team secretary Corinna Phillips, we tend to work on a team basis and pool our legal and medical knowledge to offer the best service to our clients.

If you would like advice on whether you have a potential clinical negligence claim or assistance with drafting a letter of complaint, please contact us on the number below. Please note that there are legal time limits in place for starting a claim for compensation, and our specialist clinical negligence solicitors will be able to advise you specifically on the facts of your own case.

Direct Dial of our Clinical Negligence Department: 01244 354688

Services for Individuals

Accident While Being Treated Cases
Acquired Brain Injury
Anaesthetic Errors
Cosmetic Surgery Claims
Delayed/Failed Diagnosis Claims
Dental
GP Errors
Missed Fracture Claims
Nursing And Nursing Care Home Cases
Orthopaedic Errors
Pharmaceutical Errors
Pregnancy And Childbirth
Prison Healthcare Claims
Spinal Cord Injury
Surgical Errors