Suffering illness or injury due to a mistake or error made when receiving medical treatment can be very traumatic. In such circumstances, individuals need to know where to turn for help getting the closure on the incident that they often so desperately need.
For most of us a trip to the doctor, hospital, optician or dentist will usually go without incident, but on the odd occasion, unacceptable errors are made by healthcare professionals that result in very distressing experiences for the patient.
If you or a loved one have suffered illness or injury due to a mistake or error made when receiving medical treatment you may be able to receive compensation for clinical negligence, whilst this will not make up for the incident it can help with moving forward.
What constitutes clinical negligence?
Clinical negligence can be applied to a variety of different circumstances including being given the wrong medication, mistakes made during medical procedures and errors made during diagnosis. Medical professionals have a duty of care to their patients and if this duty of care has been breached and resulted in a patient coming to ‘avoidable harm’ a compensation claim may be made.
When to contact a solicitor
For some people, monetary compensation is not the result that they’re seeking. It’s important to understand that if you turn to a solicitor then their main objective will be to claim compensation for you.
If you’re seeking a different result such as an apology, answers, a change in procedure, or for an individual to be held accountable, then a solicitor may not be the answer for you. These kinds of outcomes are more likely to be achieved by submitting a complaint to the organisation in question or one of their regulatory bodies.
Am I eligible to claim?
If you think you’ve suffered due to clinical negligence, then it’s wise to seek advice as soon as possible after the incident. If you’re going down the solicitor route and looking for compensation, then there are certain timescales for making a claim that you should be aware of. Most claims should be made within 3 years of the incident, however, there are certain exceptions to this rule that your solicitor can advise you on, these include cases involving children aged under 18 and those with mental disabilities.
Choosing a solicitor
When looking for a solicitor to help with your claim it’s important to check that they specialise in medical negligence claims and that they are trusted and reputable professionals.
Here at Mark Reynolds Solicitors, we are accredited by the Action of Medical Accidents to ensure that we offer our clients the highest level of knowledge and service when dealing with sensitive medical negligence cases. We are proud to operate professionally and transparently. Our experience, knowledge and friendly approach are reflected in the online reviews submitted by our happy customers which can be viewed here.
If you feel that you may be eligible for compensation for clinical negligence and would like to speak with one of our friendly experts, please get in touch by calling us on 0800 002 9577.