MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE LAW

Compensation that can be claimed under UK medical negligence law includes:

• pain and suffering including psychological conditions
• loss of physical ability
• any continuing pain and discomfort
• disadvantage on the open labour market where the injury may restrict opportunities
• compensation for being unable to pursue a particular lifestyle
• loss of past and future income
• care costs
• payment for free help given by friends and family
• medical expenses including prescriptions charges
• general expenses in relation to the claim

There are several defences to a clinical claim including:

• Limitation
  The general limitation period is three years from the date that the negligent act took place or three years from the date that, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, it was or should have been discovered. There are exceptions for minors and those suffering from mental disability and the court has a rarely exercised general discretion to extend the period. If a claim is not either settled or proceeding issued within the limitation period then the right to claim compensation will normally be lost.
• Consent
  This defence is rarely available in a clinical claim however hospital staff may believe that the signature of a consent form absolves them of blame whereas the patient is actually consenting to the reasonable performance of the proceedure but is not consenting to being treated negligently.
• Contributory Negligence
  In the event of the claimant failing to follow the recommendations of a healthcare professional following treatment and subsequently suffering harm then the patient will be held to be partly to blame for his own situation and any damages will be reduced accordingly.

In order to claim compensation for injury caused by a health care professional it is necessary to prove the following:

• Duty of care is not usually difficult to prove as the normal doctor-patient relationship is sufficient.
• Causation is a legal term whereby it is necessary to show that the patients condition has been worsened or caused by the medical mistake. This is not always straight forward as the patient was almost inevitably ill prior to the treatment starting.
• The standard for breach of the duty of care was set out in the 1957 legal case of ‘Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee’ which stated that a doctor is not guilty of negligence if ‘he has acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical men skilled in that particular art.’ There is however a subsequent 1997 case of 'Bolitho v City & Hackney Health Authority' that qualifies the judgment whereby the practice must not be irrational even though a body of doctors may believe in it. UK medical negligence law indicates that the standard of proof required is on a "balance of probabilities" and this is usually established by expert reports or testimony.

Legal Aid is still available for clinical negligence claims however less than 1% of UK solicitors are approved by the Legal Aid Board. Our solicitors are highly qualified specialists who are members of the Law Society Panel of medical negligence experts with extensive experience in dealing with clinical compensation claims. All of our solicitors are franchised by the Legal Aid Board and are entitled to make an immediate application for Legal Aid. If you do not qualify for Legal Aid then you may be able to make your claim using the no win no fee scheme.