Maintaining our health is a lifelong responsibility and a valuable thing that we cannot put a price on. Health is wealth, as the saying goes. The medical world is structured to cater to the vast range of ailments and conditions a person can suffer, from the short term to terminal illness. According to Mind, medical negligence, as it’s known in the legal world, concerns substandard care by a professional that results in damages to a patient.
Personal injury claims are emotionally charged and complex issues that require a great deal of mediation and arbitration from legal professionals to quantify suffering and find an agreeable settlement. Medical negligence, as a subset of these sorts of claims, is particularly serious due to the power a doctor, surgeon, or nurse has and the role they play in recovery.
When To Claim
Making a medical negligence claim is arguably one of the most challenging parts, from a claimant’s perspective. The criteria to make a claim differ from country to country, but typically include medical records, which Verywell runs through how to request; a full account or claim form; and supporting documentation such as photographs or witness testimonies.
Many solicitors will take this information and decide whether the claim needs to be raised. It’s worth researching the many different forms of negligence claims you can make with specialist firms, such as McGinley Solicitors, who provide resources to run through the basics of making a claim. Your solicitor will be able to handle much of the formality involved with actually raising a case against a medical body.
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Where Negligence Can Occur
Medical negligence can cover a wide range of actual outcomes. In the most serious cases, patients may pass away or suffer long-term issues because of something done, or not done, by a medical professional. Some of the most common, and most likely to lead to negligence, claims usually come down to around five major circumstances. For example, injuries incurred during pregnancy or birth, or accidents during surgery, can have lasting effects on patients. Advice that is negligent to potential outcomes, or misdiagnoses, are also some of the most encountered claims.
It’s vital that doctors can communicate to you all possibilities during procedures or when giving advice. A final thing to remember is that incorrect prescriptions or directly administered medication must be documented.
Negligence claims can take weeks or months to resolve, and the compensation can offer respite to a claimant during really difficult times. Something to consider is expiration limits on making a claim. Some countries, like Ireland, for example, will only let you file a claim within two years of an incident. The goal of these limits is to filter only claims that are truly legitimate and claimants who need support following medical procedures.
The medical world isn’t, of course, one to be feared. Medical professionals are trusted and skilled, which is partly why negligence claims can be so distressing and emotional for patients. That’s why an experienced and empathetic representation is so vital to secure the outcome you need to put you on the road to recovery.