Medical Negligence Claims Solicitors in Leeds

Errors made by medical professionals can have a serious impact on your health, leaving you with life-changing injuries, psychological trauma and significantly poor quality of life. You may also incur financial losses, including lost income, as well as medical and care expenses. Medical Negligence Direct is leading the charge to help victims of medical negligence in Leeds pursue compensation claims and seek justice.

At some point in our lives, we all require medical care and, for the most part, patients in UK hospitals receive high standard of care. Unfortunately, medical practitioners occasionally make mistakes, leaving patients with injuries. With a combination of legal and medical knowledge and experience, our medical negligence experts have a strong track record of guiding our clients through complex medical negligence claims in Leeds.

Types of Medical Negligence Claims We Handle

Medical professionals have a duty of care to protect the health of their patients; in discharging this duty, they must maintain a high standard of care. If they fail in this regard, they should be held accountable. There are many errors that could potentially lead to medical negligence claims in Leeds; the five most common cases include:

• Accident and Emergency Claims

If you have been a victim of an accident or suddenly fall ill, you will likely visit the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of a hospital for medical attention. Although the A&E department is usually a busy, high pressure environment, they still owe you a duty of care. It is important that the doctor responsible for your care conducts the necessary tests to provide a prompt and accurate diagnosis. If they fail to do this, your condition may not be diagnosed correctly, causing you avoidable pain and suffering.

At Medical Negligence Direct, our medical negligence lawyers in Leeds have the experience required to handle claims resulting from poor treatment in A&E departments.

• Birth Injury Claims

Birth injuries can have a disastrous, life-changing impact on the lives of affected children. It also greatly affects families involved, which is why our specialist medical negligence experts in Leeds are committed to helping victims of birth injury secure compensation. We handle birth injury claims of different types, including cerebral palsy cases. Our solicitors understand the implications of birth injuries, which enables us secure the best results for our clients.

• GP Negligence

The GP is usually the first port of call for most persons when they become ill. As a result, it is important that GPs possess comprehensive knowledge of a range of conditions, as well as tests required to determine the cause of symptoms. They should be able to provide a correct diagnosis and medical care plan, or refer you to a specialist doctor. If they fail in this regard, you may suffer further problems, which may result in longer and more invasive treatment.

If you think your GP has let you down and you have suffered an injury as a result, you may be entitled to a claim for medical negligence in Leeds.

• Surgical Error Claims

With increasing advancements in the medicine, the number of deaths resulting from surgery complications has reduced in the past 50 years. However, like many medical procedures, surgeries come with some level of risk; a patient must be informed of these risks before prior to a surgical procedure. If you do not receive full explanation of potential dangers of a procedure and you suffer injuries as a result, your health professional may be deemed negligent.

You may also be entitled to a surgical error claim if your treatment was inappropriate, causing you unnecessary pain.

• NHS Negligence Claims

The NHS is one of the biggest healthcare systems in the world, and one of the best. Medical staff at the NHS have a duty of care to protect the health of their patients, and they usually excel at this. However, medical errors happen from time to time, and the impact can be devastating.

If you have suffered an injury as a result of NHS clinical negligence and are considering suing the NHS, our NHS solicitors can help. To make a successful NHS negligence claim, we need to establish that your health professional’s actions or inactions were negligent, and have caused you injury. Proving NHS negligence claims can be challenging, but you can count on us to provide the legal support you need to achieve success.

How Our Medical Negligence Solicitors in Leeds Can Help

In the vast majority of cases we handle, our medical negligence lawyers in Leeds are able to negotiate a settlement without the need for trial in court. However, if an agreement cannot be reached with the liable party, then you can count on us to support you in court. Our medical negligence claims process involves various stages that ensures resolution can be achieved quickly and cost-effectively.

• Initial Consultation: When you first contact us about making a claim for medical negligence in Leeds, we will discuss details of your case to determine whether we think you have valid grounds for a claim. After this assessment, we will advise you on the steps to take for a successful claims process, how long the process will last and the funding options available to you.
• Establishing the facts of your case: We Will apply to obtain your medical records from your healthcare provider. These records combined with the statement you provide on the treatment you received will help us build a case on your behalf. This case will include events surrounding your case, the injuries you suffered and its impact on your life.
• Letter of notification and letter of claim: Once we have developed the facts of your case, we will contact the relevant healthcare provider in writing, notifying them of your dissatisfaction and intention to bring a claim against them. We will then deliver a letter of claim on your behalf, stating the facts of your case. This letter will include how much compensation you seek to resolve the case.
• Defendant’s response: The defendant has four months within receipt of your letter to provide a response. In this response, they will either admit full or partial responsibility for the injury you suffered, or deny liability. If they admit liability, they will make a compensation offer; it will now be up to you to decide if the offer is enough, or you wish to pursue further legal action.
• Court proceedings: If you are not satisfied with the defendant’s response and want to pursue further action, our medical negligence solicitors in Leeds can issue court proceedings on your behalf. This means we will register your claim with the court, laying out the facts of your case by drafting a ‘Particulars of Claim’.
• Further negotiations: As noted earlier, our medical negligence lawyers in Leeds will always try to negotiate a settlement outside the court. Even after issuing court proceedings, we will attempt to reach an agreement through pre-trial settlement negotiations. If an agreement cannot be reached, your case will likely go to court.

Time Limits for Making Medical Negligence Claims in Leeds

There are strict time limits for making medical negligence claims in Leeds, and other parts of the UK. As a claimant, you are expected to start legal action for medical negligence within three years from the date of the injury, or the date you first became aware that you suffered an injury due to negligent treatment. However, there are special rules for claims involving children and the mentally disabled.

For children, a litigation friend – usually a parent or relative – can make a claim on their behalf before they turn 18. From their 18th birthday, they will have three years to start the claim on their own. For the mentally disabled, a claim can only be started when they recover or at any time during their illness by a litigation friend. 

How Much Compensation Can I Expect?

The compensation amount awarded for medical negligence claims in Leeds depend on many factors, including the nature and severity of the injury sustained, as well as its impact on the life of the victim. For instance, a child who has suffered cerebral palsy will likely receive more compensation considering their life expectancy than an individual above 75 with an injury due to negligence because they already have a significantly less life expectancy.

No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims in Leeds

We offer to work with most of our clients on a No Win No Fee basis. Under this arrangement, you do not have to pay any upfront legal fees and if your case is unsuccessful, you do not pay anything. This means that if we take on your medical negligence case, we strongly believe in its chances of success.

Get in touch with us today

Contact us now and find out how our medical negligence experts in Leeds can help. Call our specialist team of medical negligence on 0800 644 4240 or fill in our claims assessment form and one of our medical negligence lawyers in Leeds will call you back.