Medical Negligence Claims

Medical Negligence Solicitors London

If you have been injured due to a medical accident, you will want help getting your life back on track. That means help from a medical negligence specialist you can trust. One who understands your particular needs and has the skills to deliver the best result. Our job is to win your case and to obtain the maximum compensation in the minimum time. But how we go about it will be tailored to you, because it is also about getting the right treatment, rehabilitation and expert evidence at the right time in your recovery. It is about keeping you at the centre of the process without it dominating your life.

What is Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence, also known as clinical negligence, is where an injury is caused or an existing condition is made worse due to poor care provided by medical professionals. These include injuries that occur while being cared for by the NHS or private healthcare providers.

How can our medical negligence lawyers help?

Our medical negligence solicitors in London can help with medical accidents due to a failed or wrong diagnosis, surgical errors, birth injuries and other injuries resulting from medical treatment. We only represent the injured party, not healthcare providers and have been fighting our client’s corner for more than 40 years. We specialise in serious injury claims particularly Cauda Equina cases, spinal cord injuries and brain injury.

How do I make a medical negligence claim?

1. Talk to us to help you understand whether you have a claim. We’ll meet you face-to-face before taking the case on. The appointment can take place at your home, in hospital or at our offices, whatever is best for you.
2. Following our meeting, we’ll advise you about the prospects of success, the potential value of your claim and how long it will take. We’ll keep you informed of progress and consult you about all decisions relating to your case.
3. You will need to provide us with as much information as possible, including the result of any formal complaints made to the NHS, police or other organisations.
4. If we all agree that Osborne Law should take your case on, we will discuss the funding of your claim including whether to run your claim under a No Win No Fee agreement.
5. We will assign a team to your case and ensure that you have direct access to a case worker who will keep you informed of the progress of your claim and consult you about all decisions relating to your case.

What types of medical negligence can I claim for?

• Medical misdiagnosis – where a condition gets missed and goes undiagnosed or when a diagnosis is wrong.
• Mistakes during surgery – includes incidents where the wrong operation was performed, infections caused by poor hygiene and cosmetic surgery that has led to disfigurement or scarring.
• Prescription errors – you have been prescribed the wrong medication, incorrect dosage or together with another drug that shouldn’t be taken together.
• Negligent clinical advice – failure to warn of risks including making alternative treatments clear so that you could make an informed decision.
• Pregnancy and birth injuries – sustained by mother or baby during pregnancy, while in labour or following the birth.

You can find more information by following the links below:

• Birth Injuries to mother
• Birth Injuries to a child
• Fatal Claims
• Wrongful Births
• Spinal Injury
• Brain Injury
• General Practitioner Claims
• Fatal Claims
• Inquests
• Requesting and obtaining a second post mortem
• General Medical Claims
• Nursing Care Claims
• Pressure Sore Claims
• Orthopaedic Claims

How do I know if I have a medical negligence claim?

For a medical negligence claim to be successful, you need to prove that you have been treated in a negligent way which caused an injury or made an existing condition worse. You will have to prove that duty of care has been breached and this led to:

• enduring pain or suffering
• loss of income or earnings
• change of lifestyle

What are the time limits for making a medical negligence claim?

Medical negligence claims are subject to strict time limits which if missed, means you could lose the opportunity to pursue your case forever. This time limit is known as the limitation period.

We would recommend against judging the calculation of your limitation period without expert advice from a specialist solicitor.

The law governing the limitation period is set out in The Limitation Act 1980. In short, you must issue a Claim Form at Court within three years of the date of negligence or the date you first had knowledge of the negligence, whichever is the later.

Calculating the limitation period is fraught with complications so it is important to take legal advice as soon as possible, should you wish to bring a claim. There are particularly complex rules for assessing the “date of knowledge” of the negligence.

The three years can slip by quickly and delaying increases the risk of losing vital evidence.  We would therefore recommend consulting a solicitor ideally no later than 12-18 months after the incident of negligence, to avoid the problems which can be caused by delay and to give your claim the best chance of success.

There are exceptions where the standard 3-year time limit will not run until later, the most common being:

• If someone has passed away as a result of medical negligence, the limitation period is calculated to expire three years from the date of death of the injured person or the date of the Personal Representative’s knowledge, whichever is the later.
• The limitation period for any claim brought by a child (defined as those under the age of 18) does not begin to run until the date of their 18^th birthday which effectively means that they have until their 21^st birthday to issue court proceedings.
• Where the person bringing the claim lacks mental capacity, there is no time limit for issuing court proceedings. Assessing capacity is not always straightforward and solicitors have to tread carefully when determining whether their client lacks the capacity to make their own decisions or not.
• The Court has power to exercise its discretion to allow court proceedings to be issued outside of the limitation period, but this is reserved for exceptional cases and there are very specific criteria set by the courts to trigger the Court’s discretion to allow a claim to proceed out of time.

FAQ’s and Case Studies

How long does a medical negligence claim take?

How much compensation can you claim for medical negligence?

Do I have to pay legal fees to claim for medical negligence?

How do I change medical negligence solicitors?

Medical negligence case studies

Are Osbornes Law medical negligence solicitors right for me?

Our London medical negligence lawyers have a track record in securing multi-million-pound settlements for clients whose lives have been devastated by the most serious injuries due to substandard medical care.

Our promise to you:

• We will review your negligence claim by advising you on the NHS complaints procedure or other alternative procedure if your case does not relate to NHS care and treatment;
• We provide a free initial consultation and case review;
• We can assist you with any issues that you may have regarding the complaints procedure or that you encounter in obtaining copies of your medical records;
• Our specialist clinical negligence solicitors will advise you as to the best course of action in respect of your case.

We specialise in the higher value and more serious injury claims but can help with the full range of medical negligence claims: from relatively minor injuries to life-changing injuries such as spinal cord damage and brain injury.

Our lawyers are accredited by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). Stephanie Prior is an accredited member of the AvMA Clinical Negligence Legal Panel and a member of the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel. Ben Posford is the elected Secretary of APIL’s national Damages Special Interest Group.

Or as the directories say, Osbornes “continues to build on its success’, fielding a personal injury team that predominantly assists individuals who have sustained serious and life-changing injuries. The team receives instructions in high-value and complex trial litigation, involving severe brain, head and spinal cord injuries, as well as fatal accident claims (Chambers UK, 2020).

“I cannot praise Osbornes Law enough, especially Stephanie Prior. The way she handled our case which was a law suit that at the time myself and my family had no fight or energy In us to fight as all I wanted was my wife to be back. Thank you to the whole team and I will recommend you to friends, strangers and family” Mr R

So if you have been seriously injured in an accident or suffered a bereavement caused by the negligence of another, our medical negligence solicitors are here to fight your case and maximise your damages.  We offer “a rare level of commitment” (Legal 500) and will tailor our efforts to you and your circumstances because as well as compensation for losses you will need to secure the right treatment, rehabilitation and support to aid your recovery. We will keep you at the centre of the process of your claim without it dominating your life.

To contact our medical negligence solicitors in London. Call 020 7485 8811 or complete our online contact form.