Fatal Medical Negligence Claims & Inquests

If negligent treatment or substandard care has led to the death of your loved one, this guide tells you what you should do to make your fatal medical negligence claims.

Coping with the death of a loved one is very difficult and is even more devastating when it is a case of death by hospital negligence or negligent treatment from a medical professional. In such cases, you will need all the support you can get even as you try to understand what actually happened. This is why we are here for you to support you.

We understand how devastating death due to doctor’s negligence can be and we share in your pain. We will therefore stop at nothing to find out what exactly happened and get you a deserved compensation.

It is true that no amount of compensation can restore the life of your loved one, however a compensation can help you get your life back on track by ensuring that you do not suffer financially as a result of the unfortunate incident especially where the deceased is the chief provider of the family. A compensation can therefore make your life a little easier and provide a more secure future for you and the rest of your family.

What Are Fatal Medical Negligence Claims?

This is the process where an individual takes legal action against a medical professional or the hospital for their negligent treatment which has led to the unfortunate death of their loved one. Also known as fatal injury claims, when your claims are successful, you will be entitled to an NHS negligence death compensation (if your claims were made against a particular NHS trust). 

To make such claims, you will need to contact your personal injury claims solicitor or fatal medical negligence solicitor who will discuss with you and determine if you have a valid claim. You will also receive the needed legal advice and support throughout the negligence claims process.

What Are Inquests? 

Inquests are a legal enquiry or investigation to determine or ascertain the facts surrounding the death of someone especially where there is reasonable cause to suspect that the death was not of a natural course. 

If the death of your loved one is subject to an NHS coroner’s inquest, our team of medical inquest solicitors can provide you with the best legal representation, support and guidance to ensure that we get answers to your queries which will determine how we will proceed with your negligence claim. 

Therefore, if your loved one was a victim of death by hospital negligence, and you require expert legal representation at a medical coroner inquest, our team of specialist fatal injury claims solicitors are ready to assist you.

Fill our online claims assessment form and one of our specialist medical negligence claims solicitors will reach out to you in no time. Death by negligence UK is a very serious issue and therefore medical negligence resulting in death cannot be condoned in any way.
You are entitled to an NHS negligence death compensation if your claims are successful.

What Happens After An Inquest?

When a person dies, a GP will issue a medical certificate of the cause of death, which is sent to the registrar of births and deaths. A death certificate is then issued to that effect. 

However, in certain cases, the body may be referred to a coroner. These include;

• If the person died following an accident or injury
• If the death happened during a surgical procedure
• If the death happened after an industrial disease
• If the death was as a result of violent or unnatural causes
• If there is no explainable cause of death
• If death occurred in prison or police custody

The coroner will thereafter perform a post mortem to find out the cause of death. This can be followed by an inquest- a legal investigation held before a jury to determine the facts and circumstances of death.

The purpose of an inquest is to answer four main questions

• Who died?
• When did they die?
• Where did they die?
• How (or in what circumstances) did they die?

Coroner Inquest Conclusions

The period of a coroner’s inquest is most times a very emotional experience for the family of the deceased. 

It is also common that the relatives of the dead person may not be able to know how the legal process of questioning witnesses follows. They may also have some unanswered questions after the inquest. This is why appointing a medical negligence solicitor to attend the inquest is important as not only will your lawyer ensure that your questions are put to the witnesses, but also that, where appropriate, information or evidence which can be vital towards a potential negligence claim is gathered.

Although family members of the deceased would want to see someone held accountable for the death of their loved one and have assurances that such treatment will not be repeated, the coroner’s duty is not to find a criminal or civil liability or blame the death on anyone. It is rather for the coroner and the jury to reach a conclusion about how exactly the person died.

What Happens After A Narrative Verdict? 

There are a number of conclusions the coroner can make which can influence further actions by the family of the deceased.

The coroner may make traditional ‘short-form’ verdicts, such as accident/misadventure, stillbirth or suicide; he may also make a narrative verdict summarizing the facts about the death. Such conclusions may also indicate that a death may have been caused by neglect even though a coroner cannot make firm decisions that a person, hospital or organization was negligent leading to death.

However, if findings suggest negligence, the family may use those findings to build a medical negligence claim.

Furthermore, if the coroner’s findings suggest that circumstances leading to the death of the deceased exist and there is a risk that another person may suffer such fate, the coroner has the power to make a Regulation 28 report which is sent to the establishment responsible for the circumstances surrounding the death.

The recipient of a Regulation 28 coroner report must send a written response within 56 days and will give details of any proposed action or which has been made already to prevent a recurrence. If no action is proposed, they will also provide an explanation why that is so. The reports are available to the press and public.

Make A Claim

Why Should I Make A Fatal Medical Negligence Compensation Claim? 

Although the last thing on your mind after losing a loved one tragically is making a claim for compensation, there are several reasons why you should make a fatal medical negligence claim. These include;

• It can help you understand exactly what happened and why the mistakes were made
• It helps to ensure that the hospital responsible makes appropriate changes so that they will not occur again. 
• Also, we can seek an apology from those liable.
• The compensation amount received can help to fund the much-needed therapy for the family, such as counselling, following a devastating event
• It can also help ensure that the family does not suffer financially but are able to carry on with their lives especially where the family was financially dependent on the deceased.

Negligent Actions That Can Lead To Death

A number of negligent actions by medical professionals which can result in death of a loved one include

There are a number of mistakes medical staff can make that can result in the death of a loved one, such as:

• Delayed diagnosis
• wrong diagnosis
• Delayed treatment
• Failure to monitor patient closely for progress or otherwise
• Failing to carry out proper tests as at when due
• Failing to refer patient to a specialist for expert attention
• Surgical errors
• Prescription errors

Who Can Make A Fatal Medical Claim? 

A dependent of the deceased can make fatal medical negligence claims. This can include the following;

• The deceased’s spouse
• In certain cases, the former spouse of the deceased
• A civil partner of the deceased (someone who had been living with the deceased for at least two years before the death)
• A child of the deceased or any other person considered by the deceased as a child of the family
• A parent of the deceased
• Any other family member of the deceased
• The Executors on behalf of the deceased’s Estate 

What can I claim fatal mistake compensation for?

As earlier stated, dependents of the deceased are legally eligible to make coroner inquest neglect claims or fatal mistake claims. Under these circumstances, the following can be claimed for: 

• Loss of the financial dependency
• Loss of ‘services’ dependency

On occasions, you may also be eligible to make a claim for pain, suffering and trauma that the loss of your loved one has caused you. Additionally, financial losses, such as loss of earnings may be claimed for, if you’ve been unable to work as a result.

How Do I Prove Dependency? 

To make a claim for medical negligence leading to death of a loved one, you have to show that you were dependent upon the deceased either financially or for care and assistance. Even if you were not wholly dependent upon them, you can still make a claim as long as you were partially dependent.

Our fatal injury claims solicitors can guide you on how to prove your dependency and proceed to make your claims.

How much does it cost to make coroners inquest neglect claims?

When you choose to work with our team of medical negligence solicitors, there is no cost to you until you have been awarded compensation. You will be represented on a No win No fee basis and if it happens that your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be charged a penny. 

Why Choose Medical Negligence Direct Solicitors?

Our specialist team of solicitors are well experienced in dealing with clinical negligence cases that have led to death of a loved one. We have also been able to represent many families, securing hugely satisfying compensation amounts. We offer a caring, friendly, professional and empathetic service as we understand how terrible the situation must be for our clients and how difficult it is for them to cope or even make a claim in such unfortunate situations.

This is why we ensure that rather than add to the burden of our clients, we ease their pain by providing support in any way they require while ensuring that the entire claims process is stress free for them.

We understand that bereaved families would want to get answers as quickly as possible and we will make sure you get whatever answers you seek. We work with speed and accuracy employing our anti-confrontational but highly effective negotiation skills to see that not only the defendants accept liability but do so quickly so as to help you put behind the unfortunate incident as soon as possible. We will also see that proper changes are made to prevent a recurrence.

Whatever the coroner inquest conclusions may be, you can be rest assured that your claims are handled by competent solicitors who are part of the Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) solicitors’ panel as well as the Law Society’s specialist panel for clinical negligence solicitors. With our lawyers, you can only expect the best possible legal representation and settlement payout for your claims.

Reach out to us today to make that claim. Call us on 0800 644 4240 to get started.