What is Classed as Medical Negligence?  

Medical negligence can have a significant and devastating impact on someone’s life. In this article, we explain what is classed as medical negligence.  

What is Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence (also known as clinical negligence) is when a healthcare professional or institute provides substandard care to a patient, which causes them to suffer avoidable harm or causes their condition to deteriorate. 
The negligence is caused when either a healthcare professional, such as a GP, dentist, surgeon or a healthcare service, such as a mental health service, has breached their duty of care owed to the patient.  
To make a medical negligence claim, you must be able to prove the healthcare professional or institute breached their duty of care and the harm you suffered was avoidable if treatment had been of a reasonable standard.  

Types of Medical Negligence Claims

In the UK, we are extremely lucky to have access to an outstanding healthcare system, with the NHS and private establishments providing a high quality of care and treatment. However, there are occasions where mistakes can and do happen, which can have devastating consequences for patients.   
Delayed diagnosis/treatment, misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment or surgical mistakes are all types of medical negligence that could arise.  
Below are types of medical negligence claims:  

You may want to pursue a medical negligence claim to seek a simple explanation as to what went wrong, an apology from the healthcare professional or institute concerned, and to recover compensation for the physical and financial consequences you have endured because of the negligence.  
If you have been a victim of medical negligence, you must bring your claim forward within 3 years of the date from which you first knew, or could reasonably have expected to know, that you suffered as a result of medical negligence. These types of claims are subject to a strict 3-year time limit, so it’s vital you seek legal advice as soon as possible to give your claim the best chance of succeeding.  

How are Medical Negligence Claims Funded?

Before making a medical negligence claim many clients are concerned about how they will pay for their legal fees. Understanding how medical negligence claims are funded can give a client peace of mind that they will not be asked to make ad-hoc payments during the course of their claim or be presented with a final bill once the claim is settled.  
Depending on your individual circumstances, there are a number of ways your medical negligence claim could be funded, the 3 main ways your claim could be funded are:  

  • Legal Aid – Legal aid is funding provided by the Government through the Legal Aid Agency, which means you won’t pay for your legal fees if your claim is unsuccessful. This type of funding is only available for eligible medical negligence claims, primarily birth injury claims, where a child has suffered a severe brain injury during pregnancy, birth or shortly afterwards.  

Currently, Morrish Solicitors are one of the few law firms with Legal Aid Franchise, which means we have been approved by the Legal Services Commission to offer Legal Aid funding on certain types of cases.  

  • Conditional Fee Agreements (“no win no fee”) – Conditional fee agreements also known as “no win no fee” means you will not be charged for your legal fees if your claim is unsuccessful. If you claim is successful, you will be charged a success fee, but this is taken from your compensation. This is the most popular funding option for medical negligence claims.  
  • Legal Expense Insurance – Legal expense insurance is usually attached to your home and contents insurance policies. It can cover the cost of legal fees incurred when pursuing a claim. If you have legal expense insurance, we will need to contact your insurance to check whether the policy covers the exact circumstances of your medical negligence claim.  

During your initial consultation, we will explain the different funding options available for your claim, ensuring you receive the appropriate funding for your case.  

Making a Medical Negligence Claim

If you would like to make a medical negligence claim, the first thing you need to do is contact us on 033 3344 9600 or email [email protected] with as much information as you can. After contacting us, we will arrange a free initial consultation, where we will go through the details of what happens and if you have a case to make a medical negligence claim.  
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