What legal action can achieve

Our client’s often have different reasons for bringing a claim for Medical Negligence. Their reasons include: –

Ensuring a doctor/nurse will be disciplined
Wanting a full apology/explanation/thorough investigation
Procedures will change to prevent it happening again
Compensation for their losses
Justice
Help with treatment
Getting their day in Court
Having read this far you will realise that people have different reasons for seeking legal advice in medical negligence cases. Some people’s expectation is that a doctor or health care provider will be disciplined. We have to say straight away that this is unlikely to be the case. Realistically the most that litigation can usually achieve is compensation and some form of explanation about the treatment you received.

The NHS Complaints Procedure

It is possible to make a formal complaint about the treatment you have received. Sometimes clients do not wish to pursue a claim for compensation but simply wish to obtain some answers to find out what went wrong. If this is the case then a complaint under the NHS Complaints Procedure may be appropriate.

The Complaints Procedure does not include provision for payment of compensation. We can advise you whether your case is appropriate for the Complaints Procedure. It may well be that we will suggest that you pursue a complaint before advising you about the merits of a compensation claim.

For more information please see our NHS Complaints page.

How long will the case take?

There is no easy answer to this. Generally a long while. Many cases settle outside of court but if your case runs all the way to trial it is unlikely to be in Court in under three years. Cases like this take so long because they are very complex. We will need the help of medical experts to prepare reports dealing with negligence and your injuries. Doctors are all very busy and often long delays occur whilst we wait for reports. From time to time we will also instruct a barrister to advise and to draft documents and again further delays will be incurred whilst we wait for the papers to come back from the barrister.

Client Support

It very often helps to be able to talk to other people who have had a similar experience as your own. We have an extensive list of support/self help groups. If you would like some information about a group for your particular problem, please contact us. We can also put you in touch with the support network run by the charity AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents).

For further information please feel free to call our Medical Negligence team on 0844 800 9860. They will be happy to provide you with as much help as possible.