The process of Medical Negligence Compensation Claims

by Alex Sash


Medical negligence arises when the care provided by a health professional falls below what is regarded as an acceptable standard and causes an injury. To successfully prosecute a clinical negligence claim it is therefore necessary for a Claimant to prove firstly that a mistake has been made, and secondly the full extent of the consequences of that mistake.

Within the National Health Service, NHS Trusts have legal responsibility for errors made by employees of the Trust. General Practitioners are legally responsible for their own actions. Hospital doctors and GPs, however, owe patients the same duty of care.

The legal concept of medical negligence is a fairly recent development with the first ever UK case in 1932.

In 1995 the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) was created to investigate, and if appropriate, defend clinical negligence claims, or settle them when they arise out of hospital treatment. Claims against GPs are, however, dealt with by a number of medical defence organisations that function rather like insurers.

In 2003 a review of medical negligence procedures was undertaken which arrived at a number of unsatisfactory conclusions. Generally cases take too long to resolve and are expensive to investigate, and the NHS has been accused of dragging its feet and failing to deal with compensation claims fairly and swiftly.

Undertaking clinical negligence claims involves a very high level of skill and experience to overcome the difficulties that may be encountered. The MyClaim team includes lawyers with medical and legal qualifications and importantly considerable experience of investigating clinical negligence claims for the NHS. This detailed knowledge of how the NHS works and how it arrives at settlement decisions is essential in ensuring a satisfactory outcome.

Medical Negligence Statistics:

* More than 95% of medical negligence cases are settled out of court.

* 5% of the general population report suffering injury or other adverse effects of medical care.

* Annual NHS clinical negligence expenditure was just £1 million in 1974-75 (£6.33 million at 2002 prices). This figure rose to £446 million in 2001-02 and is continuously growing.

* The NHSLA dealt with nearly 7,000 claims for clinical and medical negligence in 2002/2003, just under 7% relating to episodes of care that took place prior to 1995!

(Source: Department of Health, 'Making Amends - Clinical Negligence Reform', 2003)

If you are looking for more information about Medical Negligence Compensation Claims please visit www.mycompensationclaim.co.uk. MyClaim also offers expert advice for Brain, Head and Whiplash Injury Claims and much more.

Original source: Politics.co.uk (http://www.politics.co.uk/issuebrief/health/nhs/medical-negligence-and-compensation/medical-negligence-and-compensation-$366559.htm)


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