What’s involved in a medical negligence claim?

First of all you will need to choose a suitable and experienced solicitor. This person will be crucial to the success of your claim and will be able to explain and support you through each step of the process. Make sure you do some thorough research and speak to a few law firms before choosing. They should provide an initial consultation meeting for free.

Your solicitor will be able to explain the different options that exist for funding the initial investigation and potential claim. Once funding is in place she will obtain all the relevant medical notes and records from the hospitals and other health practitioners involved.

Independent medical experts will use these reports and a statement that you will provide to your solicitor to prepare a report. Those expert reports will either support the claim or indicate that a claim is not sustainable.

If the reports support a claim, the next stage is to quantify the value of the claim. An accurate assessment is carried out using further expert reports from a range of therapists and professionals. 

By this point your solicitor will have been able to form a view about whether or not you or your child’s disability was caused by clinical negligence and what level of compensation you or your child may be entitled to.

Your clinical negligence action

This will address three distinct issues:

• Breach of duty – whether the standard of medical care given to you or your child was below that which could reasonably be expected. This is judged according to the standards and medical knowledge prevailing at the time of the alleged incident.
• Causation – the link between the breach of duty and the injury sustained. Did the medical staff’s failures in care contribute significantly to the disability sustained? You will need to show that the disability has no other known cause.
• Quantum – the level of compensation that you should be awarded based on meeting the needs of the disabled person.

Making a claim can be a lengthy process and is dependent on a number of factors not directly within your solicitor’s control. These include the availability of experts to report promptly and where a claim proceeds to trial, the likely court timetable. It is inappropriate to conclude an action in negligence until there is an actual prognosis and detailed understanding of how future needs can be met.

How long do you have to bring a medical negligence claim?

Your solicitor should be able to advise you at your first meeting on the time limits for bringing a claim. Normally you have three years from the alleged injury or date of knowledge of the injury. In the case of a child, the three years do not start to run until the child reaches the age of 18 so you may have up to 21 years to bring a claim if the injury was caused at birth. However, it is best to start an investigation as early as possible while things are likely to be clearer in your mind.

If the injured person has a significant intellectual impairment (whether from the injury or not) the limitation period of three years will not apply. So even if the potential claimant is over 21 years old it is worth enquiring.