Many of us will have to visit a hospital for treatment over the next 12 months and in the vast majority of cases the treatment will be successful but for many thousands, there will be avoidable errors and mistakes made which could lead to serious injury or even death.

How can Medical Negligence arise in Hospitals?

Hospitals can be liable for the negligence of their employees including doctors and nurses and technical staff. Hospital / NHS negligence compensation claims can arise out of:

• Inadequate training
• Failure to keep the staff up to date with changes in medical treatment or medicine
• Misreading handwriting
• Giving the wrong prescription
• Carrying out operations incorrectly or not at all.

The reasons why a hospital might be found to be negligent are so varied it is impossible to list them all.

Standard of Care

Medical negligence arises when a hospital by one of its staff has failed to act as a similarly skilled medical practitioner might have acted. Often there is more than one body of opinion on what might be the appropriate treatment, but as long as the treatment has been carried out in accordance with that particular accepted procedure, the clinician involved and his or hospital employers is unlikely to be found to be negligent.

Recent Cases for Compensation

Some cases of clinical negligence are so obvious, compensation will invariably follow; like the case of the gentleman who having undergone a surgical procedure known as a tracheotomy, continued to suffer problems and had to have a second tracheotomy. The hospital involved failed to tell him that they had found what appeared to be part of a latex glove from the first operation during the course of the second operation which left him with a permanent tracheotomy, an opening in the throat which caused him embarrassment and health problems. Liability was admitted and he received £350,000.

In another case a lady received £12,000 when a screw that was too long was used in an operation on her ankle meaning that she had to have a further operation to remove it. She suffered severe pain as a result.

A gentleman received over £100,000 when a fracture of his spine went undiagnosed for many months despite an examination by a consultant, which caused him unnecessary pain and suffering.

There are many more examples of cases where the standard of care dropped below what is considered reasonable and thousands of pounds paid out as a result.

Time Limits

A compensation claim for hospital / NHS medical negligence has to be brought within three years of the alleged negligent act or the date that you first became aware of it.

Making a Hospital / NHS Negligence Compensation Claim

In order to pursue a claim for Hospital / NHS negligence, you have to be able to show that the careless treatment or lack of it led to an increase in pain or a result that could have been avoided had the correct treatment been carried out at the appropriate time.

Hospital / NHS negligence claims are not always easy and you should therefore ensure that you have a specialist solicitor acting on your behalf who will be able to claim for any injury and associated losses like loss of earnings or increased medical care.