Clinical Negligence

Health professionals – including doctors, dentists, nurses and so on, whether funded by the National Health Service (NHS) or privately – obviously have a duty of care to patients. If the level of care provided falls below a certain standard, whether through failure to diagnose or treat a condition, misdiagnosis or failure to obtain consent, resulting in physical injury or mental deterioration of a patient, the health professional(s) concerned may be guilty of clinical negligence. One recent trend, for example, has been an increase in the number of clinical negligence claims relating to hip and knee replacement surgery outsourced to private treatment centres by the NHS in an effort to cut waiting lists.

In order for a claim for compensation for clinical negligence to be successful, however, the burden of proof – that, say, a doctor was at fault and his, or her, failure led directly to the injuries being claimed for – lies with the claimant. A healthcare professional or hospital has, by law, three months in which to investigate a complaint, so the pursuit of a clinical negligence claim can be distressing and may take months, or even years, to complete.

A “no win, no fee” agreement between you and specialist clinical negligence solicitor could not only reduce the amount of heartache involved in pursuing your claim, but means that if your claim is unsuccessful, you don’t need to pay anything at all. If your claim is rejected, you may still be liable for court costs and related fees, but these are typically covered by insurance taken out by the solicitor.