UK MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIM SETTLEMENTS ADVICE

The National Health Service (NHS) for which we all pay tax usually provides a professional and caring service however medical negligence claim statistics cannot be ignored. At any point in time there are over 20,000 outstanding claims against the NHS most of which involve hospital care. The NHS faces a potential ongoing bill of over six billion pounds that it fully expects to have to pay out to those who have been the victims of a negligent healthcare professional who has failed in the duty of care to a patient.

The largest claims for compensation usually result from nerve damage including cauda equina syndrome and Erbs palsy or from brain injury, the largest proportion of which are made up of cerebral palsy victims with these complicated and difficult cases taking up to ten years or more to resolve. Unfortunately the insurers for the medical profession have a reputation for fighting almost all claims and rarely settle on a voluntary basis which means that a half of these claims, when they are eventually settled, cost more in legal expenses than the amount of compensation awarded to the victim however legal costs are payable by the insurers in addition to the amount of any damages awarded which are paid in full to the claimant.

Our specialist team of medical negligence claim solicitors will take on your case if we are reasonably confident of success. Our solicitors detailed knowledge of statute and case law ensures that we do not just take on the certain winners but will also consider any cases, including difficult cancer claims, that appear to have a better than evens chance of success after we have carried out a rigorous and detailed risk assessment. All of our specialist lawyers are members of the Law Society panel of clinical negligence experts and we are able to deal with publicly funded cases through the Legal Services Commission (legal aid) and in appropriate cases we will deal with claims using the no win no fee scheme. In addition claims may be privately funded or in some cases are covered under existing policies of home insurance or may be financed by a Trade Union.

There are time limits in regards to when a medical negligence claim can be made. The Limitation Act 1980 dictates a primary limitation period of three years which means that most claims must be settled or legal proceedings must have been issued within three years of knowledge of the injury. There are exceptions for those under the age of eighteen years and the mentally impaired and in addition the Judges have a wide discretion to extend or suspend the time qualification. Limitation matters are a complicated area of law and you should take legal advice on compensation claims as soon as possible after the event that caused the injury.

If you have suffered personal injury due to medical errors and you fear you may have been the victim of negligence then there is no time for delay. In order to know what options you have you should seek expert legal advice from specialist clinical negligence solicitors as soon as possible. Our lawyers operate a free service whereby you can meet us in person or chat over the telephone with one of our friendly experts and obtain initial advice. If you subsequently decide to proceed no further then that is your right and you will not be charged for our initial advice.