Medical Negligence FAQs

There is no difference at all – they mean exactly the same thing.

You are not entitled to compensation for every accident or injury. In simple terms, you must prove that someone else was at fault and caused your injury. It will be necessary to apply the relevant law to the circumstances in which you were injured before deciding whether you can claim compensation.

If you think you may be entitled to compensation please consult us as soon as reasonably possible so that we can provide you with advice.

You can obtain an initial opinion from one of our solicitors without charge.

The law relating to time limits is not clear cut and the most important thing is not to delay obtaining advice from a solicitor after you have been injured.

The Limitation Act 1980 imposes a 3 year time limit for commencing court proceedings for claims involving personal injuries. This period runs from:-

• The date on which the cause of action accrued, i.e. the date of the accident or injury; or
• If later, from the “date of knowledge” of the person injured.

Special considerations apply to people who die from their injuries within the 3 year period and to children and therefore even if you are worried that the time limit for bringing a claim may have expired it is always worth speaking to one of our solicitors for advice.

Therefore, if you think you may have a claim you should contact one of our team without delay as only in exceptional circumstances can a personal injury claim be brought outside the statutory time limit.

We suggest that you consult one of our team of solicitors as soon as possible. We can then, if appropriate, make some initial inquiries on your behalf.

It is important that you keep any documentation you have relating to any medical treatment so that you can hand this to your solicitor at your first appointment. If you have kept a diary detailing what has happened to you and how you have been affected by that treatment, please keep this safely and update it regularly. That information can be very useful to us when it comes to considering how you have been affected by what you have been through and what your needs might be.

The vast majority of claims settle without the need for a formal trial. Some medical negligence claims settle without the need even for court proceedings, but of those claims that do result in proceedings, only a small percentage of those go to a full trial. However, this is sometimes necessary and for that reason we prepare each claim carefully as though it were destined to proceed to a trial.

In our experience we have settled many cases without the need for a formal trial.

As the claim proceeds we will help you to prepare a written statement that will usually form the basis of your evidence at court and if it looks likely that your case will proceed to trial you will be represented at that trial by a barrister whom you will have met some time before the trial. We, and probably your barrister, will meet with you before any trial to talk through with you what will happen at trial and what part you will play.

Bringing any claim in litigation carries a risk. The final outcome of most claims cannot be predicted with certainty. There is always a risk that you might fail to establish that your opponent is liable to compensate you or that you might recover less in damages than you had originally sought. We suggest that you consult one of our team of solicitors who will be happy to advise you about the risks of litigation and how you can take steps to insure against those risks.

We make an initial assessment of the merits of your case when we first have instructions and will write to confirm that advice.

However, until we are in receipt of independent expert medical advice in relation to the merits of your case, our initial assessment of the merits of your claim is based upon the evidence that you provide, any research that we undertake and upon our wealth of experience in handling clinical negligence cases.

We will review and reconsider the prospects of success at various stages throughout your claim, for example, when we receive copies of your medical notes and records, when we first receive a medical report on the issues, when we first hear from the other side as to their views on the case, and when we have sight of the other side’s expert medical evidence.

We assess the prospects of success throughout the conduct of the case and if at any stage we receive evidence that suggests your claim is more likely than not to fail, we will advise you immediately.

Medical negligence cases are usually complicated and depending upon the circumstances of the case it can take well over a year before the merits of the case are known. Much depends upon the circumstances of the case, the speed with which other parties respond to our letters, the degree of cooperation from your opponent’s representatives and most importantly the time that it takes your injuries to resolve or stabilise.

We will give you an indication of the likely duration of your particular case at the outset and will let you know as the claim progresses if it is going to take any longer.

If your claim is successful you should recover compensation for what you have been through. That compensation is an amount made up of general damages and special damages.

General damages are intended to compensate you for the pain and suffering that you have been through and for any resulting physical or mental disability and the restrictions that this puts upon your way of life. General damages are assessed by comparing previous court awards or settlements in cases with facts similar to your own.

Special damages are compensation for the actual financial losses and expenses that you have incurred up to the date of the settlement or hearing. In addition, you may be entitled to losses that you will incur in the future.

The purpose of awarding damages is to compensate you for what you have been through, i.e. to put you in the same position that you would have been in had the injury not occurred. You can only recover compensation for your injury and financial losses if we are able to show a clear link to the negligent act and if the independent medical experts support this.

You should also be aware that under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 some state benefits received as a result of your injury are repayable to the Department of Social Security. The Compensation Recovery Unit manages benefit recoupment and the CRU issue a certificate of benefits which the Defendant uses to assess how much, if anything, is to be deducted from your compensation. General damages are exempt from these recoupment provisions.

The regulations for recovery of benefits are complex and will need to be explained to you as and when the need arises.

Pursuing a clinical compensation should not affect the medical care that you are offered or receive. However, some clients, particularly those with a potential claim against their general practitioners, find it awkward or difficult to continue to receive treatment from the same practice. In those circumstances they sometimes consider registering at another local practice. That is a matter of personal choice and certainly the medical care you receive should not be affected in any way.

In most cases we would recommend that you make a formal complaint about the treatment you have received and we are able to offer you advice and assistance with that if necessary.

However, it is best to contact us before making any complaint so that we can obtain details of your potential case and advise you about the limitation period for your claim to ensure that you do not lose the right to make a formal legal claim because your complaint takes time to be dealt with.