Medical Malpractice Claims Process

Our Medical Negligence Lawyers offer a free consultation for victims of clinical negligence and medical accidents. Call us on 08000 488 777 or tell us what happened so we can provide you with expert legal advice at no cost to you.

When you or a family member is sick and in need of care from a trained healthcare professional it can be a stressful time. All healthcare providers are entrusted by patients to be knowledgeable in their medical specialty. However, healthcare providers are human and humans are not perfect. In fact, like everyone else healthcare providers make mistakes on a regular basis. The issue they face is that their mistakes can have severe consequences for their patients from prolonged illness, excess costs and even death if there is a mistake made. This is why healthcare providers and institutions purchase malpractice insurance policies to insure themselves from potential human errors while they perform their duties.

The Claims Process

1. Medical Negligence Lawyers team will take your incident details – This will include, the date time and place of the incident, what happened, details of the defendant, details of any witnesses you may have, details of any injuries or illnesses sustained.
2. Your Medical Negligence Lawyer contacts the defendant – We contact the defendant by letter to let them know that a claim for negligence has been made against them
3. Your Medical Negligence Lawyer starts to gather evidence to support your claim – You will be invited to attend a medical examination with an independent medical expert. Your Medical Negligence Lawyer will also start to collect evidence such as witness statements and medical records. Negotiations with the defending party begin here.
4. Your Medical Negligence Lawyer will now update you on your claim – An update is likely will now update you on your claim with any one of the following; Liability has been accepted in your claim or liability has been denied in your claim and the case is sent to court.
5. If liability in your case is accepted your Medical Negligence Lawyer will now proceed to negotiate a compensation package. If liability is not accepted and the care is referred to court, the judge will decide who is responsible for the injury or illness and how much compensation should be due.

Time Limits

There are limitation periods which must be met before filing a malpractice claim. If these limitation periods are not followed you may not be able to file a claim.

Adults
A claim must be issued within three years from the date of the incident, or three years from the date of acknowledgement that the injury or illness is a result of medical negligence.

Children
A claim must be issued by the child’s 21st birthday, this is regardless of when the incident took place. Parents can make a claim on behalf of their child if they wish to do so before the child reaches 21. Any compensation awarded is kept in a Special Investment Account which can be accessed when the child turns 18. Funds from this account may be released prior to the child’s 18th birthday if there is a need for medical treatment or special education fees.

Adults and children without mental capacity
There are no time limits for adults or children who are not capable of managing their own affairs due to a mental disability.

Fatal Medical Negligence Cases
If you are claiming on behalf of a family member who has died as a result of medical negligence the claim must be issued within three years from the date of death.

If you or a family member has suffered from medical mal practice contact us today to find out how we can help you. You can get in touch by filling in our online claim form, requesting a call back or by calling us on the number above.

Call our Medical Negligence Lawyers on freephone 08000 488 777 or start your compensation claim online and we will call you. Medical Lawyers

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