MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE UK

Patients can face heavy financial burdens and major stress when health professionals fail to provide proper treatment. Awards gained from compensation claims are often vital in helping to ease the financial pressure.

We recognise that sums of money can never make up for a claimant’s suffering and we also aim to provide other avenues of justice when fighting a case. The law gives victims of medical negligence the power to help force change and improvement in the medical services that let them down. Our network of solicitors concentrate on achieving successful compensation claims that also hold to account those responsible for the negligence.

Taking legal action forces vigilant monitoring of services, pushing treatment and provision to constantly improve. While nothing can undo the damage done, many claimants gain comfort from knowing their case should prevent the same error being repeated in the future.

This is an extremely complex area of law. The issues involved are never clear-cut and there is wide scope for disagreement because definitions of “correct” practice in a particular circumstance often differ.

It is essential for victims of medical negligence wishing to pursue a claim to contact a specialist solicitor. An experienced solicitor will:

• Be prepared for the complexity of the issues
• Be familiar with the specialist terminology and procedures
• Possess relevant medical and legal knowledge
• Have the necessary contacts to ensure the case is thoroughly investigated

The success of a case depends, to a great extent, on whether the claimant’s representatives can prove a breach of duty of care by the health professional concerned. The Bolam case of 1957 established a method for defining how a breach is determined. Often referred to as the “Bolam test”, the procedure is used by judges today for deciding if a breach of care has occurred and is vital to the claim process.

The Bolam test involves medical experts from each side giving testimony about whether the alleged negligent action was “in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical men skilled in that particular art”. It is essential all experts giving evidence have a sound understanding of the Bolam test and its implications for the claim. The experts used by the network fulfill the criteria, being both authorities in their field and experienced in giving evidence.

Our network of specialist solicitors believes in empowering every individual with an excellent quality of legal advice. The network comprises of specialists in litigating clinical cases, accredited by the Law Society. The network is equipped to give clients the best possible chance of success with their case.

All the network solicitors are members of the Law Society panel of clinical negligence specialists and as such the network is empowered by the Legal Aid Board to seek public funding for our clients. Other solicitors, who do not specialise in medical negligence litigation, are unable to offer you public funding for your claim.

If you would like to discuss your potential claim with an experienced solicitor, the network offers you free qualified advice without any further obligation. Complete the contact form and you will be given a call as soon as possible by one of the team.