Medical negligence is a very serious matter that affects hundreds of people every year, causing harm and suffering that could have been avoided if correct procedures were followed by medical professionals.

While doctors, nurses and other medical staff work extremely hard to ensure that everything they do is in the best interests of their patients, things do occasionally slip through the net and when they do, people get hurt.

Anyone who suffers as a result of medical negligence has a right to make a claim for compensation.

Why are medical negligence claims different?

Unlike most other compensation claims, medical negligence claims require adherence to a strict procedure to establish whether an individual or group of individuals were at fault and whether their errors led directly to the suffering of the claimant.

It is not satisfactory for a claimant to deem themselves eligible for compensation on the strength of their own word. They must be supported by the opinions of qualified medical experts, who feel that it was more probable than not that there were serious errors in the medical treatment administered that no competent doctor would have made. The experts must also put forth the view that the errors in question caused, or directly contributed to, the injury at the centre of the complaint.

What do you need to do to make a claim?

Perhaps the most important step you can take along the road to making a successful medical negligence claim is to contact a solicitor who specialises in cases of clinical negligence. While you might have a particular solicitor that you know well and have trusted with your affairs over the years, they might not possess the experience of clinical negligence cases that is so vital in making a successful claim.

This experience is crucial to establishing the validity of a medical negligence claim. A solicitor who is inexperienced in matters of clinical negligence might encourage the pursuit of a claim that is ultimately doomed to fail, wasting the time and money of everyone involved.

The Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel contains the names of over 250 solicitors firms but the serious court litigation is looked after by just a handful of firms. The best way to gain access to the very best clinical negligence solicitors is through First4Lawyers.com.

Follow the steps to success

To make a claim for medical or clinical negligence, first make your complaint to the person responsible at your doctors’ surgery, NHS trust, or dental surgery. Many institutions will have a complaints manager who you can speak to directly about your complaint.

Once you have received acknowledgement of your complaint, you will either receive an explanation straight away or you may be called to an investigation of your records and notes. If you are not happy with the eventual outcome, then the local resolution process has failed. You can appeal to the Healthcare Commission to review your case.

If these routes fail to produce a satisfactory resolution, you can pursue your claim through a qualified clinical negligence solicitor.