3. Medical negligence

Medical Negligence Solicitors

When a medical professional lets you down, you may need a legal professional you can trust. If you’re suffering from pain, loss or discomfort due to the negligence of a healthcare provider, seeking confidential legal advice from the QualitySolicitors network of medical negligence solicitors can be a positive first step towards recovery.

How can a medical negligence solicitor help?

First, talk to someone about possible medical negligence compensation...for free

If you’ve suffered from what you think may be medical negligence (it’s sometimes called medical malpractice or clinical negligence by legal people) then talk to QualitySolicitors, for free, and in confidence.

Talking to us won’t go any further unless you want it to. Some people who approach us admit to being nervous or embarrassed when they first called, so please don’t think you’re alone.

We’ll listen to you with understanding and, if we agree that you have a case, we’ll talk you through the steps we could take together to arrange a medical negligence compensation payment that is appropriate to your present circumstances and future needs

Did you know – you’re entitled to make a medical negligence claim?

Even thinking about starting a medical negligence claim can seem a bit overwhelming, but at QualitySolicitors we’ll take care of the legal matters so you can concentrate on getting life back to normal.

You’re probably wondering if you should even approach a legal firm and you may even be worried in case you’re wasting everyone’s time, but remember that UK law specifically entitles you to seek a compensation payment if you feel like you’ve suffered from a poor standard of medical attention.

It won’t cost anything to find out if we can help, because QualitySolicitors offer everyone who contacts us Free Initial Assessment to help them clarify what their next steps might be.

If we think you have a case, then we have a common sense approach to compensation payments. We believe in keeping things simple, proper and straightforward, which is why we’ve established these six steps through the compensation process.

 

Six common sense steps through the compensation process

1: Information gathering+

After we’ve established that you may have a case (which we can do during your Free Initial Assessment call), we’ll talk you through your situation. This will include taking details of what happened, as well as the suffering and distress that you’ve experienced. Naturally this may be difficult for you, but this is an indispensable part of the process because we’ll want to work hard in putting forward the strongest case for you as possible.

We’ll also ask you about any previous health issues, so we can better assess the extent that your situation could have been avoided if you’d received a reasonable standard of healthcare in the first place.

Having collected as much information from you as we need, we’ll ask the relevant medical professionals to release your medical records.

This will probably be the stage at which the other party will be alerted to the fact you’re seeking advice, but it’s nothing to worry about because we’ll handle all the communication with the other party; many of our clients tell us that it’s very comforting to have a solicitor acting for them in this way.

At QualitySolicitors we’re used to discussing such personal matters with our clients, and you can rest assured that all information will remain confidential. Please bear in mind that we just want to help you receive an appropriate compensation payment to help your circumstances now.

2: Medical report+

We’ll arrange for you to have an independent medical examination by an approved expert doctor.

Again, this is quite normal during a medical negligence compensation claim.

This independent doctor will assess a) whether the standard of your treatment did indeed fall below reasonable accepted levels, and b) that the poor treatment was indeed the cause of the additional pain or discomfort that you’ve been suffering.

3: Further evidence+

By this time we’ll be close to gathering everything we need to present the strongest possible case on your behalf and begin discussions with the other party’s solicitors.

We’ll have lots of information about your injury or complaint, your treatment and recovery, and the extent of the losses and expenses that you’ve incurred.

If we think some more information would be beneficial to your case then we’ll clearly explain why we need to this.

You can rest assured that only once we’re happy that we have the strongest possible case forward will we begin negotiations with the other party’s solicitors.

4: Settlement negotiations+

The other party’s solicitors will confirm to us whether they:

  • Accept you suffered as a result of medical negligence
  • Accept the negligence was the cause of your suffering
  • Agree the losses and expenses we are claiming for are a fair and reasonable valuation.

If the other party agrees to the first two points, it is fairly normal for them to dispute the valuation. In this case they’re likely to make what is called a ‘counter offer’ (i.e. a lower valuation made in response to our original valuation).

Your solicitor will carefully explain what we advise you do in response. Our lawyers have lots of experience to call upon and you’ll find this invaluable when chatting to your representative.

For example, after listening to our legal advice you may wish to accept your opponent’s counter offer, you may wish to respond with a counter offer of your own, or you may wish to elect to take your case to court. With QualitySolicitors you’ll always be fully informed of what’s happening, what might happen, and the implication of every decision you might make.

5: Court assessment+

If we think your compensation claim would be better dealt with by a court, then we’ll explain every single implication with you, as well as making sure you understand what is going to happen in the court itself.

Naturally we’ll do all the administration and work that’s necessary to get a medical negligence compensation claim to court.

In our experience, we find that most cases don’t actually go to court because the other party eventually makes a valuation offer that is accepted by our clients. This may well happen to you, but if it doesn’t, and you case does go to court, then try not to worry because with QualitySolicitors you’re in good hands.

6: Compensation+

The final step of any successful compensation claim is the award of the payment itself.

The most significant aspects of a compensation payment are that it is likely to reflect:

  • Your pain, suffering and inconvenience (already suffered and predicted for the future)
  • Any losses and expenses (such as lost income, medical costs, and related travel costs)
  • Any recovery, care and rehabilitation costs
  • Any future long-term support costs.

Finally, you need to be aware that once you’ve accepted a compensation payment then this prevents you from making another claim for that particular incident.

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