How To File A Lawsuit Against A Hospital?

When we feel ill, we try to set up an appointment with our GP, go to hospital and expect to get the right amount of medical attention and receive treatment for our illness. Our medical professionals owe us a responsibility to care for us and make the best decisions in our interests- this is known as duty of care.
When they fail in this duty, the results can be devastating and for this reason, you may want to know how to file a lawsuit against a hospital.

It is very painful when medical professionals who should care for you with empathy and professionalism make costly mistakes that affect your quality of life in no small way especially when these errors were well avoidable.

Making lawsuits against hospitals is not an easy task; this is why you need an expert negligence claims lawyer to sue a hospital. The consequences of hospital negligence range from mild to life-altering conditions leaving the individual with permanent disabilities or chronic diseases.

At MND, we have experienced medical negligence solicitors who are specialists in hospital negligence claims who will discuss with you, evaluate if you have a valid claim, guide you on the processes involved in suing a hospital for negligence and help you understand how to make a claim against a hospital. We will also ensure you are well supported as you receive the best possible legal counsel and representation which greatly increases your chances to get a deserved compensation amount.

Forms of Negligent Actions In The Hospital

Several kinds of medical negligence can occur in the hospital for which you can make claims. These include but not limited to;

• Cases of misdiagnosis of medical conditions
• Errors in drug prescriptions or administering the wrong dosage
• Operation gone wrong (surgery mistakes including anaesthesia errors)
• Negligence before during delivery leading to complications for mother and child 
• Unnecessary delays or failure to refer patient to a specialist
• Failure to carry out proper tests
• Unnecessary treatment or surgery delays
• Failure to monitor patient’s vitals
• Accident and Emergency negligence
• Being infected with hospital transmitted infections such as;

1. Bacterial infections e.g. MRSA and Clostridium difficile
2. Viral infections e.g. norovirus
3. Surgical wounds infection
4. Urinary tract infections

If you or your loved one has suffered from any of these forms of negligent treatment causing you harm, injury, emotional distress/trauma or any other complications, or death due to doctor’s negligence you may be able to file a lawsuit against the hospital or its staff for being negligent and breaching their duty of care towards you.

How To Prove That You Suffered Harm Because of Negligence?

This is a very important part when filing a lawsuit. When you decide to file a lawsuit against a hospital for misdiagnosis, you should be ready to prove that indeed you were negligently treated and you have suffered as a direct result of that. This is known as proving Liability and Causation.

There are four D’s of medical negligence which must be established to prove a case of hospital negligence. These are;

• Duty- by demonstrating duty, you show that the hospital owed you a duty of care. They had the responsibility to ensure you received the right treatment.
• Deviation- here, you demonstrate that despite owing you a duty of care, the hospital failed to give you the right standard of care; they deviated or breached the duty of care owed you.
• Direct Causation- this is where you show a direct link between the negligent treatment and the injury suffered. It is important to show that their negligent action or substandard care is the direct reason for what you are suffering and that in the same conditions, another hospital or medical professional wouldn’t have acted in the same way.
• Damages- it is important to show how you have been affected by the injury suffered. You may have suffered psychologically, socially, financially or otherwise as a result of the negligence-caused injury. This is very important to proving your case and getting the right compensation amount.

Make A Claim

What Kind Of Lawyer Do I Need For My Hospital Malpractice Claim?

When you make a decision to make a medical malpractice claim, it is important you get the right legal counsel. The kind of lawyer you need for your negligence claims is a medical malpractice solicitor. These are expert lawyers who specialize in medical negligence claims and know the rudiments of such claims.
The type of lawyer you choose for your claims has a significant impact on your chances of winning your case. It is therefore important that you choose lawyers who;

• Have accreditation in recognized associations in the industry which include the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Panel, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and Action against Medical Accidents panel (AvMA).
• Have proven records of success and have genuine online reviews from previous clients
• Are known to have good relationships with their clients especially as these claims may take a significant amount of time to settle and so you need a solicitor who you can have a good working relationship with; someone to be trusted and confided in.
• Offer No Win No Fee medical malpractice services

At MND, you have just the right medical negligence lawyers for you to handle any hospital negligence claims you may have. Our lawyers have represented many clients over the years and have a strong record of success. They are friendly, understanding, empathetic and will handle your case with impeccable professionalism. You can be rest assured that you will have the best possible legal representation and get a favorable settlement payout.

Our consultation sessions are free of charge while we also offer a no win no fee hospital negligence claims policy meaning that you do not have to pay a dime to have us undertake your negligence claims.

How To File A Claim?

Having known the kind of lawyer you need for a medical malpractice claim, the first step towards filing a medical malpractice claim is to contact your lawyer to discuss your claims. Your lawyer should be a good listener and able to understand your predicament so as to know how best to help you.
He will make a professional assessment of your claim and if convinced that you have a valid claim, will proceed to represent you.

There are vital documents which are very important when suing a hospital for medical malpractice. These include;

• Detailed statements of what transpired including the hospital staff involved
• Eye witness reports from close friends or family
• Medical history including details of tests carried out and results
• Proof of financial losses as a result of the negligent treatment
• Pictures showing the severity of injury
• Comprehensive report from an independent medical expert specializing in the field of interest who will be made available to you by your lawyer to perform a thorough medical examination on you and give a detailed report of your current state of health and general wellbeing.

How Do I Sue A Hospital?

You may have various reasons to sue a hospital. It may be how to sue a hospital for wrongful death, suing a hospital for emotional distress occasioned by misdiagnosis or poor treatment, suing for wrongful discharge from hospital or any other form of negligent treatment.

Basically, the claims process is as follows;

• Contact your hospital negligence solicitor
• Fund your claims
• Gather documents and information to be used as evidence
• Submit a letter of claim
• Establish hospital liability 
• Register your claims in court
• Negotiate a favorable compensation amount and payment

Our lawyers are ready to explain these claims processes in detail during our free consultation session.

NO WIN NO FEE

How You Can Sue A Hospital Without A Lawyer?

From a legal standpoint, you are not mandated to meet a lawyer and get them to represent you make a hospital negligence claim; you can actually represent yourself. However, there are vital issues you have to put into consideration before deciding to sue a hospital without a lawyer.

First, you have to recognize the fact that lawsuits against hospitals and medical can be very complex and high risk. You need to be well grounded legally in order to have a chance of winning your claims. Even in a “never event” case, for the fact that you are coming up against seasoned lawyers from the defendant party, you will have a very difficult time proving your claims. You therefore need to have someone who knows what they know in order to stand a chance of winning your case.

When you decide to represent yourself, you will have to prepare yourself to file motions, gather evidence, bring in witnesses and cross examine them, handle endless paperwork, negotiate with insurance companies, among others. Not only that you will do them, you will have to do them exactly according to the provisions set out for things to be done in a law court. 

Furthermore, you will be strained mentally and physically as carrying the legal representation yourself adds more burden on you when you should give more focus to recovering after suffering an avoidable injury. Suing a hospital with a medical malpractice lawyer puts you at a higher chance of not only winning your case but also securing a favorable compensation amount. 

Therefore, considering the fact that you can make your negligence claims with no financial implications to you through our No Win No Fee policy, you will see that you lose nothing by hiring a lawyer, instead you will certainly gain even more by having an expert medical malpractice lawyer to represent you.

In the UK, you will normally be allowed three years from the date of negligent treatment or when you first noticed the negligent treatment to make a medical negligence claim. This is according to the Limitation Act of 1980. You can visit our page here to know how long to sue for medical negligence.

Get Compensation Advice & Support

At Medical Negligence Direct, we offer you a chance to make your hospital negligence claims with no financial implications whatsoever to you under our No Win No Fee policy. This means that you can make your claims without having to pay for legal fees, court fees or any other fees.

We will offer you a free consultation session, discuss with you and undertake your claims without receiving a dime from you. Even if it turns out that we were unable to successfully prove your claims, you are protected from paying us as well as paying the defendant’s legal fees as we take out an insurance cover in case of such eventuality.

Only after your claims are successfully settled and won shall we deduct 25% of your settlement payout as “success fee” while you receive the rest.

Our negligence claim phone line- 08006444240 is available for call and enquiries. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.