Medical Negligence Claims Solicitors in Liverpool

In the event that you or your loved one has suffered harm, injury, trauma or complications as a result of negligent treatment from your healthcare provider here in Liverpool, our medical negligence solicitors are available to assist you make a claim for a deserved compensation.

Be aware that it is your right to make a medical compensation claim, if you are a victim of negligence. For this you need expert lawyers in medical negligence to guide you and this is where our specialist hospital negligence solicitors come in. We will fight with you right from the initial consultation stage throughout the entire claims process, leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the claim is successfully won.

We are no win no fee solicitors in Liverpool and so you do not need to pay us before we begin to handle your NHS negligence claims. We will only take out a pre-agreed percentage of no more than 25% from your compensation payout after the claim is won to cover for court fees and other expenses incurred while representing you.

We pride ourselves as having the best experienced medical negligence solicitors in Liverpool and in all UK. You can be sure of professional legal services when you come to speak to our friendly and vastly experience lawyers to discuss your claims.

What You Should Know About Starting a Claim for Medical Negligence

Medical negligence also termed clinical negligence or medical malpractice can be described as when a medical professional fails in providing the expected standard1 of care to patients under their care as another professional in the same capacity would do causing the patient to suffer avoidable pain, trauma or other complications.

Negligence can come in the form of misdiagnosis (incorrect diagnosis, late diagnosis or missed diagnosis), surgical negligence, medication errors, etc

When these happen, they impact negatively on the patient’s health, leading to longer times on the treatment bed, reduced life expectancy, debilitating health conditions for life and sometimes death.

Healthcare professionals owe their patients a duty of care and when they make medical mistakes, claims can be made by the patients.

Most Common Classifications of Medical Negligence in Liverpool

Medical negligence can take different forms and these include;

• Medical Misdiagnosis or incorrect diagnosis
• Missed diagnosis
• Delayed or late diagnosis
• Failing to inform a patient of the risks associated with a medical procedure and getting an informed consent
• Medication errors
• Delayed or late treatment
• Failing to carry out or refer patient for proper tests
• Delay in or failing to refer you to a specialist for expert examination
• Surgical Errors such as anaesthesia errors, retained instruments, wrong site surgery, etc.

With this in mind, there are some of types of negligence claims we undertake;

• Care Home negligence Claims
• Orthopaedic Claims
• Cauda Equina Syndrome Negligence Claims
• Birth Injury Claims
• Still Birth Negligence Claims
• Dental Negligence Claims
• GP/ Doctor Negligence Claims
• Cancer Negligence Claims
• Hospital Negligence Claims
• Brain Injury Claims
• Surgical Error Negligence Claims
• Cosmetic Surgery Negligence Claims
• Forceps Delivery Negligence Claims
• Spinal Injury Negligence Claims
• Cerebral palsy claims

What Qualifies a Person for Making a Claim in Liverpool?

The following sets of people can make a medical negligence claim;

• The victim
• The victim’s dependant
• The victim’s family/ next of kin
• The victim’s estate

Key Requisites In Proving A Case Of Medical Negligence

To prove your case, there are certain key issues that must be established;

• Doctor/ patient relationship where you show that the doctor owed you a duty of care
• The doctor breached that duty of care
• The breach of duty caused your injury, pain or complication
• You have also suffered other damages or losses as a result of the harm suffered.

During our consultation session with you, we will need certain documents to help strengthen your case and prove the above-mentioned key areas. We can also assist you in making the documents available if you have trouble accessing them.

These documents include;

• Full statements of events that transpired
• Witness statements from family or close friends
• Medical report including tests or scan results
• Pictures or photographs showing the severity of harm suffered
• Proof of financial losses incurred

Additionally, we may require a medical report from an independent medical expert, who is usually a specialist in the relevant field, whom we shall request to perform a physical examination on you.

If there are other documents needed as may be peculiar to your case, we will also tell you and help you make them available.

NHS Complaints Procedure Guide 

There is a procedure to follow if you wish to make complaints about what you feel was negligent treatment rather than making claims. The NHS Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) can guide you on how you can write your complaint letter if you are unsure of how to go about it. Addresses of PALS offices can be found on the NHS website. Alternatively, you may dial NHS 111.

Your complaint letter must be written within 12 months of the negligent care or when you became aware of it. You may address the letter to the medical professional responsible, the Practice Manager or the NHS commissioning body.

Here are things to include in your letter;

• Subject of your complaint
• The doctor or healthcare provider responsible for the perceived negligent treatment
• Comprehensive account of the events as they transpired
• The clarifications you seek
• And how you wish to be contacted- either in person on a round table discussion, and if you would want a verbal or formal letter of apology if indeed, they are at fault.

Your letter should be polite and address your concerns clearly without any form of abusive language.
A complaint letter can help you to understand exactly what happened and gather facts which may help you ascertain if you really suffered negligent treatment.

The NHS body in charge of claims or complaints against it will notify you upon receiving your letter within three working days. A formal reply to the contents of your complaints should get to you within 2-3 months depending on the nature of your complaint and the internal investigations they have to make.

If your complaints do not yield any positive result, you can proceed to write to the Health Ombudsman.

Claiming Against A Private Healthcare

When making claims against a private establishment and you wish to make complaints, you can address the letter to the doctor’s superiors or employers. If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of your complaints, you can write to the Independent Healthcare Sector Complaints Adjudication Service who will also look into the issues raised in your original complaint and issue you a response.

After these processes, you may proceed to make your compensation claims depending on the outcome of your complaints.

We advise that if you want to make complaints, please do so as soon as possible because you have a limited time frame of just 3 years to make your claims and any time taken to make complaints is also inclusive in this limitation period.

The medical negligence claim time limit follows the Limitation Act of 1980 that gives only a three-year window to make claims unless in certain cases such as claims that involve children or where the victim requires further treatment before they are able to make claims.

Process Involved In Making Medical Claims Due to Negligence

In summary, here is the process your medical negligence process will take in Liverpool;

• Contact Your Lawyers for medical negligence
• Sort out your funding: There are different Funding Methods available for making claims which include: No win no fee (conditional fee agreement), legal aid, legal expenses or before the event insurance (BTE), trade union funding and private funding.
• Gathering of Evidence
• Prove liability/ doctor’s negligence
• Get Interim Payments- our lawyers can help secure interim payments for you if you need some financial aid to help to pay for medical appointments, purchase some assistive devices, pay for rehabilitative care and therapies, and also cover for lost earnings or other debts incurred as a result of the negligent treatment.
• Register your claim in court- This is a standard procedure and doesn’t mean your claims will go all the way to a trial.
• Negotiations between both parties
• Payment of compensation fee

Compensation Guide Payouts in Liverpool

Using our compensation claim calculator, our Medical and Clinical Negligence Claims Solicitors can give you an idea of what you can get as settlement pay out using the compensation guide on payouts released and updated periodically by the Judicial College.

Your settlement amount after a negligence case can fall anywhere between £1,000 for mild cases to several millions of pounds in very severe cases. The NHS Resolution says that the average payout for medical negligence in the UK is about £50,000.

These factors can influence your compensation amount;

• Type and location of injury suffered
• Severity of the injury
• Future prognosis
• Financial losses incurred (past, present and estimated future losses)
• Travel expenses for medical appointments
• Costs of rehabilitative care including purchase of mobility aids and the costs of replacements.
• Cost of hiring professional caregivers
• Accommodation adjustment costs

Get in touch with our Expert Solicitors Today

No matter what you have experienced, you do not have to suffer the pain and harm done to you in silence. You deserve compensation to help you get back on your feet.
Let competent no win no fee solicitors Liverpool handle your case today as time is of the essence.

Our experienced Medical Negligence Solicitors have helped thousands of medical negligence victims in Liverpool. Reach out to set up an initial consultation by filling our online contact form or call our helpline at 0800 644 4240 to discuss your claims.