Most people visiting their GP or hospital expect and do receive good treatment, but accidents can and do occur and mistakes can be made. If you are on the receiving end of a medical accident, the consequences can be severe.
What sorts of situations may give rise to a claim for medical negligence?
A doctor is required to tell you when treatment goes wrong. The doctor is obliged to do this as a member of the General Medical Council. Claims against medical professionals have arisen because of failed or delayed diagnosis, failure to warn of the risks of treatment or get consent, errors in prescribed medication and mistakes made in surgical procedures. Both hospital doctors and general practitioners owe you a duty of care. If it can be shown that the treatment was negligent that is the the standard of care fell below the generally accepted standard for that particular area of medicine then a claim for compensation may be successful.
In a recent case, a claim was brought against a GP, an out of hours GP and a hospital, for a child’s permanent brain damage after a failure to recognise that the child was suffering from mycoplasma pneumonia. Her GPfailed to diagnose it and did not refer her to hospital, the out of hours GP did not diagnose it either and when she was eventually taken to the A&E of the hospital, the staff there did not recognise the seriousness of her condition, she lapsed into a coma and suffered brain damage. Both the GPs were found to be responsible, as it was decided that had they sent her to hospital earlier, the serious outcome of her illness could have been avoided. The hospital too was found to have treated her inappropriately, but that lack of care was not found to be a material contribution or the cause of her injury.
This case demonstrates just how many personnel can be involved in a potential clinical negligence situation and how it is not just necessary to show a lack of care but also that the lack of care or other potentially negligent action has to contribute to the resulting injury.
Compensation for Medical/Clinical negligence.
As the results of some clinical errors can be disastrous for the individual concerned, the compensation can be extensive, covering not just the injury, but the resulting costs of care, loss of earnings and other expenses. In the least dramatic cases, compensation can still reach significant figures.
What to do if you think you may have received negligent treatment.
In the first instance you should approach your GP or the hospital where you received your treatment and raise your concerns. Quite often there can be an innocent explanation for the treatment and its consequences and it may not necessarily be negligent. Those enquiries should be made at an early stage as many medical establishments do have time limits for raising complaints.
In the absence of a satisfactory response then you may consider seeking legal advice. Medical or clinical negligence is a very specialist area and cases are often fiercely defended. AccidentClaims.net can put you in touch with a suitably qualified lawyer.