Defining medical negligence
Doctors and other healthcare professionals have a legal duty of care to their patients. When they fail to provide the expected standard of care and these failures cause harm to the patient, it is defined as medical negligence.
With the NHS suffering from staffing shortages and a lack of funding, reported cases of medical negligence have peaked during this decade with over 13,000 claims made last year alone. The huge backlog of appointments and procedures that grew during the pandemic is exacerbating the issue: it’s predicted that the NHS waiting list could top eight million by summer 2024.
Common types of medical negligence
Given how varied illness and injury is, medical negligence is wide ranging. Common types of medical negligence include:
- Misdiagnosis – failing to identify the problem and attributing symptoms to another issue
- Late diagnosis – spotting the illness late so that consequences are overly severe or even fatal
- Surgical negligence – including delayed surgery, mistakes during the operation like leaving a surgical item inside the body, and allowing an avoidable post-operative infection to occur
- Prescription errors – ordering the wrong medication that either fails to treat the illness or causes further harm to the patient
- Negligent pregnancy care – substandard pregnancy care that directly or indirectly harms you or your baby, including birth injuries
- Negligent cosmetic surgery – poorly performed cosmetic operations leading to scarring and disfigurement
- Psychiatric negligence – inadequate mental healthcare that worsens mental wellbeing
What to do if it happens to you
If you think that you’ve suffered from medical negligence, you can submit a formal complaint to your GP or the hospital that provided the treatment. You could also seek legal advice and make a medical negligence claim if you want to petition for compensation.
You need to be able to prove that the negligence wasn’t your fault in order to make a claim, so it’s best to get legal advice. Specialist lawyers will be able to guide you through the whole process, from before you submit your claim to the moment you receive your compensation.
When to make a claim
You can make a medical negligence claim up to three years from when the incident occurred, or when you realised that you had received substandard care. However, it’s best to do it as soon as possible as you’ll need to provide evidence as part of your claim.
If you are unable to make the claim yourself, it’s possible for a friend or family member to do this on your behalf.
Claims are usually settled within a few months, but more complicated cases may take years. The government is capping the legal costs on some clinical negligence claims to help speed up the claims process while preserving the victim’s right to fair compensation.
