How to Deal With Medical Negligence

 When you seek medical advice and help you are in the hands of the ones providing it, you go there thinking you will get the help you need and will come out the otherside on the mend. However medical negligence is more common than you might think and this is where someone in the medical profession would cause further harm to a patient, or in some cases death during a procedure or with a misdiagnosis or with giving the wrong medicine. If this happens then this would be medical negligence and they would become liable to being sued.

If you or someone you know has been impacted with medical negligence but you are unsure how to proceed further then hopefully, this guide will help you to understand what you should do to prepare a case for your medical negligence claim so you can get any justice you deserve.

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Seek out legal help

One of the first things you want to do is seek out legal advice, that way you know if you have a claim or not and they can let you know if they can take on the case. You should make sure that you get yourself a specialist so look for someone who has experience in medical negligence and should you be looking to claim for the death of a loved one you should look for wrongful death lawyers who care and are able to check your claim for you and help you where needed. The more experience they have in this field the better as this is going to help the case go smoothly and also mean they may have little tips and tricks they can let you in on to make sure you have a better chance with your claim.

Get your evidence together

Once you have spoken to a lawyer they will advise what evidence you need, so you need to compile all that evidence together to make sure you have a solid claim. You are going to need your medical records or those of the deceased, you will need a statement from you or the patient involved unless they are deceased, You will also need a report from an independent medical professional who can look over what was carried out and make their own comments on whether they feel correct procedure was followed, and finally witness statements and these would be from all medical parties involved who are deemed to have been negligent and anyone witness to it. Once you have all this put together then your solicitor or lawyer can look through and deem if a case is likely to be won or lost, your best bet is to go for a no win no fee lawyer so that the trial will continue no matter what and you are not being charged for it.

How long does it usually take

The length of a medical negligence claim varies case by case but most of the time the claim would take about 2 years from the date you put it to a solicitor. The length it takes all comes down to how quickly the defendant responds to your case and anything you ask of them, how severe the level of the case is based on injuries sustained, and also the amount you are pursuing in your claim. All of these make up the bulk of time taken for your claim but there can be other factors that interfere that your lawyer can advise you on. With this time frame and longer, it is of no surprise why some people choose not to bother, but if you have been seriously wronged then it is worth your time.

How much should you claim for

It is always hard to know what you should go for when making a claim, how much is an injury worth and has it also affected other aspects of your life like your mental health. When working out how much to claim for there are a few different factors to think about, what level of injury did you sustain, what was the timescale of the injury, were there any aftercare costs involved, did you need to buy any additional equipment after to help your injuries, was your job affected so did you lose pay or any future pay from the injuries, and did it affect any people in your care or dependents. With all these factors taken in then you can go through with your solicitor and see what is best to claim for.

If you or someone close to you has been affected by medical negligence and you are unsure how you should deal with it and what your next steps should be then this guide should help you to understand it further and help you get started on your claim.