In the United Kingdom (UK), persons who have been the victim of medical negligence can be entitled to obtain a compensation for the lack of proper care. The legal services offered by our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester can be required by persons who consider that they were not treated as necessary by a doctor or by other medical professionals.
| Quick Facts | |
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| What is medical negligence? | Medical negligence defines a set of actions, tratments and behaviours (such as neglect) conducted by medical professionals which have had a negative impact on the health (physical, mental or both) of a patient. |
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When can a person make a claim on medical negligence? |
When the person has been a patient and has received a medical treatment that worsened his/ her state or that prevented the person to heal. |
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Possibility to sue a hospital (yes/no) |
Yes |
| Medical units that can be sued | All types of medical units, state-owned or privately held. |
| Time limitations for medical negligence |
3 years |
| Exemptions for time limitations |
Time limitations do not apply to minor children under the age of 18 years old, who have been the victims of medical negligence, or when the patient is a person with limited mental capacity. |
| Factors taken into account for establishing compensations |
Our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester can help you estimate your possibile compensation for medical negligence based on the following factors: – the type of injury, – the severity of the injury, – whether there is a long-lasting/permanent disability as a consequence of the medical negligence, – the pain experienced by the patient and the way in which it limits the person’s ability to enjoy life, compared to how it was previous to receiving the medical treatment/care, – loss of earnings (the costs associated with taking care of the current medical issued created/aggravated by the faulty medical assistance). |
| Value of compensations in the UK |
The value of compensation can vary from GBP 1,000 (for small medical problems) to even GBP 1 million (there isn’t a maximum value that is regulated by the law). |
| Persons who can claim for medical negligence |
All persons who have been the patients of a medical unit or the parents/legal guardians of minor children or of persons with limited mental capacity. |
| How to initiate legal proceedings |
First, it is necessary to contact our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester to see if the case has sufficient legal grounds to be judged on medical negligence claims. Then, you must gather all the documentation that supports the claim and address a letter of claim, prepared following the Civil Procedure Rules. |
| Can clients obtain financial assistance for the payment of legal services fees? (yes/no) |
Yes |
| Ways to obtain financial assistance for paying the legal fees |
– legal aid, – conditional fee agreement (no win no fee), – insurance policy provisions, – trade unions regulations. |
| Legislation on medical negligence |
The National Health Service (Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice) Regulations 2019 |
| How can a case be solved? |
Cases on medical negligence can be settled out of court (the majority of cases are handled through this procedure) or by bringing the case in front of competent courts. |
| Legal services offered by our team | Our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester advise clients on whether they can make a claim, help them gather the required evidence, assist in out-of-court and in-court proceedings, help them make a claim suitable for the specifics of the situation and assist in obtaining financial help. |
Our team of Manchester solicitors will analyze a case and will verify if the respective medical situation falls under the regulations applicable to medical negligence. From a legal point of view, medical negligence defines an action or a set of actions that have had a negative impact on the physical or mental state of a patient, due to the lack of proper care that was supposed to be given by the medical professional.
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Who can make a claim for medical negligence in Manchester?
The right to make a claim for medical negligence is available for any person who has suffered a lack of proper medical care. Medical negligence takes place at the moment when specialists in the field are not able to provide various medical treatments at the standards imposed by the applicable legislation and this can refer to basically any type of medical service.
Thus, the services of our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester are opened to persons who have experienced various issued concerning any of the following medical branches:
- persons who were hospitalized;
- those who have been treated by their general physician;
- persons who have received dental treatments or who have had ophthalmic issues;
- persons who have given birth in the UK;
- persons who had a surgery.
Besides these, our clinical negligence solicitors in Manchester can establish if your case falls under the possibility of making a claim in the following situations as well:
- a delay in a medical treatment;
- an error in establishing a diagnosis or establishing a treatment for a particular condition;
- claims related to cosmetic surgeries;
- for infections a patient had while being in a hospital;
- for brain or spinal injuries;
- for medical care services offered at home.
What happens if the claim is related to a state hospital in the UK?
If you have suffered an injury or if you think that the medical staff working in a state hospital in Manchester, UK, provided medical services that were not delivered at the required standard, you are allowed to sue the persons who have made a mistake.
State hospitals in the UK are under the control of the National Health Service (NHS) and, if the case itself is a more complex one, which refers to the incompetence of a given hospital – given by the lack of proper procedures or management, one can also sue the NHS.
This represents a more complex case and in this situation, you will definitely need the help of medical negligence solicitors in Manchester, who know the legal procedures medical units have to respect.
What is the data on medical negligence cases in the UK?
Although the medical system in the UK is a highly developed one, medical negligence cases claims keep on increasing in number.
In 2016-2017, the NHS received a total of 208,000 written complaints and it must be noted that the statistics in the field show that the incidence of misdiagnose for hearth attach patients is high, as one third of the patients no do obtain the correct diagnose. According to the NHS, medical negligence statistics shows the following:
- the highest number of claims for clinical negligence were related to emergency medicine (accounting for 1,409 claims in 2018-2019);
- the number of non-clinical medical negligence claims was of 3,585 in 2018-2019;
- in 2018-2019, NHS registered a total of 11,417 clinical settled cases and 4,237 non-clinical cases;
- the number of mediation cases increased by 119% (173 cases in 2017-2018 to 380 cases in 2018-2019);
- the claims indemnified reached a total value of GBP 83.4 billion (measured in March 2019, on a year-to-year basis).
In the financial year of 2021-2022, NHS had to pay compensations in value of GBP 2.6 billion. Compared to the situation presented above, in 2021-2022 NHS received 13,551 clinical claims.
Out of these, 13,499 reached a settlement (our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester can provide more information on settlement options), while 51% resulted in NHS damage payments.
How you can reach our clinical negligence solicitors in Manchester
If you consider that you have been the victim of medical negligence, regardless if it represents a clinical or non-clinical case, you can easily reach our lawyer in Manchester by phone. You can also appoint a meeting with our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester, for a free initial evaluation of the case.
Regardless if you meet with our team in person or by phone, our lawyer will listen to the circumstances of your case and will tell you if there is a legal ground for making a claim.
If this is will apply, then our clinical negligence solicitors in Manchester will present the best course of action applicable to the respective situation and will tell you what steps one should expect once the process is started. We invite you to contact our Manchester solicitors for more details.
Medical negligence is a serious offence, that can have a lifelong negative effect on a person and this is why the law in the UK protects the person that has been injured. This applied to foreign patients who were treated in the UK as well.
What are the time limitations for medical negligence cases in Manchester?
If you want to address a competent court for making a claim regarding medical negligence, please mind that the law stipulates a time limit for doing so (calculated from the moment when the medical negligence event occurred). In the UK, the time limit for this is of 3 years (with some exceptions, which can be detailed by our Manchester solicitor).
The time limit can be established based 2 pillars, depending on the particularities of the case. These 2 situations are:
- 3 years since the moment when the even took place (the date when the person received medical services that have had a negative influence on the person’s health);
- 3 years since the moment when the person observed that the respective treatment has had a negative impact on his/her health.
Please know that there are also several exceptions concerning this rule. For instance, the 3 years limit does not apply in case of minor children with an age below 18 years old, therefore, claims can be made at any moment.
It must be noted that the law stipulates that if a child received medical treatment that can be analyzed under medical negligence laws, the 3 years time limit will enter into force at the moment when the child reached the age of 18 years old, therefore the claims can be made no later than the 21st birthday anniversary.
In the case of adults that do not have full mental capacity there are no statutory limits concerning claims for medical negligence, unless they will regain their mental capacity and then, the standard rules will apply. Our solicitors in Manchester can offer more information.
Also, we mention that if a person has died because of medical negligence, the family can make a claim for the loss of live of their family member, but there are time limitations concerning this and therefore, we advise you receive assistance from our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester.
What is the value of claims for medical negligence in Manchester?
The value of claims for medical negligence cases can vary greatly based on the severity of the case (less severe cases benefit from lower compensation while very severe cases can obtain high financial compensations).
In general, the value of the compensation is influenced by the following factors, as presented by our lawyer in Manchester:
- the medical costs associated with the disease/medical situation of a person;
- the type of injury and its severity;
- the pain and discomfort the person has suffered as a consequence of a faulty medical treatment;
- the emotional impact the event has had on the person’s life;
- the costs associated with making changes to the daily life and living circumstances as a consequence of the medical case;
- the future costs the person will have for dealing with the new circumstances.
It must be noted that there is no upper limit with regards to claims for medical negligence. In practice, our medical negligence solicitors in Manchester have observed that claims can vary from GBP 1,000 to GBP 1 million.
For example, for claims for minor dental injuries caused by medical negligence one can obtain claims of GBP 1,000 to GBP 1,600. Serious ear injuries can be compensated with up to GBP 42,000, while serious eye injuries can obtain claims for more than GBP 200,000.
The highest claims can be obtained for amputations of limbs (around GBP 200,000 – GBP 300,000), severe brain injuries (more than GBP 300,000) or spinal cord injuries, which can go up to GBP 1 million for severe cases.
Our immigration solicitors in Manchester can offer in-depth legal advice on the rights foreigners have while living in this country. Our lawyers can provide legal representation in front of local authorities, including in front of the British courts, to persons who have been injured while being at work.
Our employment solicitors in Manchester can represent both parties (employers and employees) in litigation cases that refer to the work injuries in a work environment. We can present the obligations the employers have.
Our lawyers have a long experience in representing clients who have been the victims of road traffic accidents, persons who were accused of drinking while driving and many other offences that have had as a consequence the physical hurt of another person.
You can refer to our solicitors in Manchester city centre for more details on how our team can represent you in front of the court.
