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Medical negligence cases can be some of the most costly and protracted compensation litigation in the no win no fee solicitor's area of practice. In 2007/08 it took on average 1.5 years to settle claims handled by the NHS Litigation Authority.
Often, the only way claimants can gain any redress for personal injury, stress and/or anxiety caused by a clinically negligent hospital or medical practitioner will be to commence a compensation claim through a solicitor.
The chief executive of the independent charitable organisation Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), Peter Walsh, states in an article in the Health Service Journal that there are many instances where lengthy and expensive litigation could have been avoided, but he believes that the government has deliberately avoided alternatives to legal action.
The NHS Redress Act 2006 proposed a framework for an NHS remedial system aimed at lower level compensation claims that would not require legal proceedings, but, even though it received royal assent, its rate of use is low.
Mr Walsh believes a system that does not focus on individual error, but highlights system errors and fundamental causes of incidents could negate necessity for litigation and create more emphasis on patient safety.
AvMA recognises that compensation is an important factor where medical negligence has left a patient needing long term treatment and care, but that many people merely want an explanation of what went wrong and ultimately an apology. Claimants very often express a wish that lessons be learnt from their case, so that other patients do not have to suffer.
Apologies not money
Mr & Mrs P's case* is representative of many who wanted an apology after the death of a relative. Their daughter died as a result of mistakes in the treatment of meningitis in 2002. The NHS trust involved sent them a letter inviting them to a meeting so that medical practitioners could explain what happened.
Mr & Mrs P were already well aware of what happened in their daughter's case, and what they wanted was an apology and an assurance that the same mistakes would not be made. They felt that their only way to succeed in this was to find a solicitor through AvMA. When litigation commenced, the P family did not want to accept money from the trust, but as the case progressed they were offered an out-of-court settlement of £25,000. Their solicitor had to advise them to accept the payout as, if the case went on and the compensation amount was decided by a judge to be less, then the P's could be held liable for court costs. The P family felt they had little choice but to accept the payout.
Mrs P said, "It took three years for them to admit they were wrong and all we got was an apology [in] a tiny paragraph and that was it."
A spokesperson for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers stated that despite assertion within the Compensation Act 2006 that an apology is not an admission of liability doctors are still reticent to apologise directly to families and patients.
(*names have been changed.)
YouClaim and medical negligence
If you or a family member has suffered as a result of medical negligence then you may be eligible to make a compensation claim. We have years of experience in this field and can assure you that we will handle your case with the utmost care, respect and in the most timely way possible.
Whilst the complexities of medical negligence claims prevent us from stating that you will not be charged any legal fees, we assure you that we will advise you of any charges before you commit to them and in a won case we will always reimburse you.
If you wish to discuss a case of medical negligence, please call our confidential UK helpline now on 0800 10 757 95 or you can request a more convenient time when we can call you back. Alternatively, fill in the online claim form and we will look into your compensation claim before we call you to discuss it further. Above all, at YouClaim we are here to help.
