Medical negligence damages cases
are where patients seek compensation from the NHS or suing the NHS hospital because sub-standard
negligent medical treatment has caused the injury or harm. Applications can be
against medical professionals such as a hospital doctor, GP, nurse,
physiotherapist, dentist, pharmacist or ambulance driver, and upon medical
institutions such as an NHS hospital, private hospital or a GP surgery.
Medical negligence compensation
claims (also known as clinical negligence or medical malpractice) is a
complicated area of law. It is therefore important that individual take advice
from a solicitor who is a recognized expert in the field before a patient sue
the NHS or make a claim against a doctor.
There are three principal elements that have to be discovered and
explained in order for a medical negligence compensation case to be successful.
This is the same whether they are using the NHS or a private doctor
●
Negligence
●
Causation
●
Damages
Negligence – the first element of a clinical/medical
negligence compensation claim. The first element for their solicitor to determine if are
using the NHS or a private doctor is that the medical professional or medical
institution was careless. Oversight is where the standard of medical care given
by the NHS or private hospital fell below the level required of a professional
in the field.
Medical professionals will not be inattentive just because there was a real
alternative for the care. To be negligent so that you (through your solicitor)
can sue the NHS, the level of care needs to have fallen below the level
expected of the average competent medical professional in the field. The
question to ask when bringing a claim on a doctor or hospital is whether a
reasonably competent doctor in the same specialty faced with the same situation
could reasonably have acted in the same way.
Causation – the second
element of a clinical/medical negligence compensation claim to sue NHS
hospitals or private medical institutions
The second element to show is that
there is a causal link between the negligence and the harm, ie that the injury,
damage, and loss suffered is a direct consequence of medical negligence. Even
when medical practitioners and hospitals realize that there was negligence, they
often argue that the causation element of a clinical negligence / medical
malpractice compensation claim has not done met. Causation is a complex element
of a clinical negligence / medical negligence claim for a solicitor to show
when using the NHS or GPs. Solicitor
will want to get the opinion of a medical expert if they are to strongly sue
the NHS or a doctor. Usually, the expert who is assessing negligence will also
consider whether there was causation.
Damages - the third
element of a medical negligence claim against the NHS
The third element that must be
proved to sue NHS hospitals and doctors in a clinical negligence / medical
negligence case is split, ie the amount of compensation the patient should
take. The number of injuries will depend on a diversity of factors, the most
important of which are the patient’s pain and difficulty and the financial loss
the patient has acquired and will incur.
Financial loss can cover the
future costs of attending the patient. It can also include the patient’s future
lost income where, as a result of the negligence, the patient is no longer able
to work or to earn as much as he or she would otherwise. Where a patient will require significant care
provider and will no longer be able to work, the number of injuries awarded
when they bring a claim against the NHS or a hospital can be extremely high.
