Medical negligence claims UK can be made against any health care professional that has provided below standard care or made an error that has caused you harm. If you have suffered in this way and are considering claiming compensation, who do you want to make a medical negligence claim against?
sourceClaiming Against a GP
A GP sees many patients every week with a variety of illnesses and injuries. They have a duty of care to ensure that they diagnose your problem and treat it in the correct manner. They are usually the first person we approach if we are feeling unwell, and we trust them with our health. However, if they get your diagnosis wrong and send you away with medication for the wrong illness, you could suffer more than you needed to. This can be even worse if their diagnosis means a serious illness is missed and vital treatment is delayed.
In this situation you should speak with the best medical negligence solicitors, not just for the financial compensation you could be awarded, but also to highlight the error to hopefully stop it happening again.
Claiming Against a Hospital
A hospital has a huge variety of medical professionals within it, all of whom could possibly make a mistake. A surgeon could damage one of your organs while operating, a nurse could not monitor you closely enough and miss that you are getting worse, a radiologist could deliver your radiotherapy to the wrong area, or a maybe at the wrong strength. There are so many things that can go wrong in a hospital, and just sometimes they do.
The A & E department is another part of the hospital where immediate treatment can be vital for a patient’s well being. If this is missed when you first arrive there, you could be waiting hours to see a doctor and the chance to improve your situation could be lost.
Hospitals deal with many millions of patients every year and most times deliver a good level of service. But if you have been one of the unlucky ones to suffer at their hands, you may want to discuss your case with a solicitor from a firm such as The Medical Negligence Experts who have many solicitors on hand who specialize in all types of medical negligence, from hospital to care home, and a patient claim line to help people determine whether you have a fair chance of winning their claim.
Claiming Against a Pharmacist
Pharmacists have procedures they should follow to ensure they dispense the correct medication to the right person. Most times when you take them your prescription from the doctor, that is exactly what they do, but not always.
If they give you the wrong persons medication by mistake, or dispense the wrong dose of the drug you have been prescribed, they could cause you irreparable damage. Medical negligence lawyers would be able to help you make a claim against them and would ensure that you are awarded a fair amount for the suffering you have been forced to endure because of someone else’s mistake.
Claiming Against an Optician
It is hard to imagine what could go wrong when you visit the optician. Eye tests are fairly straightforward and non evasive. But what if they give you spectacles with the wrong prescription, or contact lenses meant for someone else? You would be wondering why your view of your surroundings was worse instead of better.
The opticians are also the place that most people would go to if they wanted laser eye surgery, and with this there are several things that can go wrong. There is no regulation that says it must be a surgeon that carries out the procedure, so it could be the optician that does it. Your cornea could be damaged, your eye lens could be scratched or they could use the wrong laser on your eyes. Whatever they get wrong, your sight could be worse than before the procedure and in extreme cases, patients have lost their sight altogether.
Claiming against an optician for medical malpractice can be a complex affair and one that you should not attempt on your own. Seeking help from medical negligence solicitors is the right thing to do, then your claim for medical negligence UK will have much more chance of being successful.
Claiming Against a Dentist
Very few people like visiting the dentist. There is just something about the aromas of a dentist surgery that unnerves people. When you do have to go though you are entitled to expect the highest level of care. You do not expect to have the wrong tooth pulled, a filling poorly executed, or your mouth cut by one of their tools.
They should be experienced and professional enough not to let these things happen, but unfortunately sometimes they do. If you have suffered harm at the hands of a dentist, making a medical negligence claim against them is your legal right. They should not be allowed to get away with carelessness or neglect as how many other patients will they treat in this way?
Claiming Against a Cosmetic Surgeon
Most reasons why people undergo cosmetic surgery are to make themselves feel happier with their bodies, but it can be a procedure carried out for medical reasons as well. If you have breast implants for example, and one of them fractures or slips, your bosom will not look too good at all. If you have a knee implant and it is inserted into the wrong knee, you will have to go through the operation again to treat the correct knee. If you are having new lenses fitted into your eyes because of cataracts, you do not expect your eyes to be damaged further.
Cosmetic surgeons have the same responsibility towards you as any other medical professionals and if they make errors with your treatment, you should make a medical negligence claim against them.
Claiming for the Harm You Have Suffered
Regardless of which health care professional has mistreated you, the law says you are entitled to compensation if you can prove they were at fault. This is not always easy to do, and often needs other experts in the particular medical field to give an opinion. They will need to agree that you could have been treated in a better way, and that the harm you have suffered should not have happened.
As long as they do, you should be able to make a compensation claim for medical negligence, and quite often with a specialist report on your side, the claim will not reach court. This speeds the process along, as waiting for court dates can be a huge delay. Without having to go through the court process, most medical negligence claims can be finalized in as little as 18 months.
However, it is important to note that you only have three years from the date of the incident to start your claim, and generally the sooner it is started the better. Research shows that the claims started earlier are often more successful, as evidence is fresher in the minds of those involved so more readily accepted.
If you want to start a claim against any medical professional you should speak with expert medical negligence lawyers straight away. Delays can cause losses, and you want to be awarded every penny you are entitled to.
