Any legal bods on here with experience of medical negligence claims?

[ginantonic]

Are there any legal bods on here with any experience of medical negligence claims? (Specifically, against the NHS?)
I have just started what could be a very long winded claim against the NHS, and could do with knowing the ins and outs.
Any ideas, anyone?

 

[Lime One]

I spent over 10 years working as a personal injury/medical negligence solicitor before dealing with commercial work. You almost always will require a solicitor to deal with the case for you and many operate a no win no fee on good claims.

Medical negligence law is complex, partly because of the nature of health problems and the varying recovery factors and partly because you have to prove negligence using the standard of reasonable medical competance.

This is what most clients have issues with, not that their care would be done by the best surgeon or doctor but that he or she has typical of those in their field of medicine. Let me know if you have specific questions or want the names of some excellent med neg lawyers.

 

[ginantonic]

Without putting any personal details on here, I have been speaking with AVMA, who have put me onto a solicitor specialising in med neg cases. (I haven't contacted him yet.) I originally contacted ICAS, who apparently aren't up to date on the latest legalities - AVMA have said I no longer have to put in a complaint to the NHS first, this changed in April 09, which affects the limitation period, which the NHS have been known to abuse. Have I got my facts right?

 

[Lime One]

The way to proceed before issue of proceedings is here
http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/protocols/prot_rcd.htm

The limitation period in medical negligence is more complex than with other injuries as it may be latent damage over time stemming back from a medical injury. Your AVMA lawyer should be advising you of this in your specific case even if some of the work is undertaken by you in collating papers etc.

 

[ginantonic]

Thank you for that. I have spoken to the med neg lawyer today, who seems to think I have a good case. As there is no legal aid now, apparently I have to find out if there is an attachment to either my car or house insurance. This seems a little odd! I'll investigate this tomorrow.
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it.

 

[Lime One]

When they removed Legal aid for personal injury it was in response to the trippers and slippers ( ie the tiny claims) which were plentiful. Big mistake to remove it for med neg cases in my view and one thing which also made me pack in general practice. However many 'houshold' policies do carry legal expenses cover and these often allow injury cases to be assessed in the early stages at no charge to you. Once the assessment is done it is much easier to get the 'no win no fee' insurance via the med neg lawyer. Get pushing for this, if it is so clear at this stage there may be a good case then the sooner it gets started the better.

 

[Beadons]

Sarah Harman in my opinion is one of the best

http://www.harmans-solicitors.co.uk/hhpeople/hhprofile.asp?ID=1

 

[Lana Burgess]

Not sure if this is still relevant to you ginantonic, but if anyone reading is looking for info on this Bolt Burdon Kemp have some useful stuff on their site on the medical negligence claims process.

 

[Lawyer James]

As Lime One has said, you may have legal expense insurance (LEI) included within your household or car insurance policy. This will most likely provide you with a limited indemnity to cover your legal costs and the potential adverse costs risk you may face if your claim is unsuccessful. It is typically around £25,000 to £50,000 worth of cover but this can very significantly. The lawyer would have been obliged to ask if you have this cover as he/she needs to ensure that you are advised correctly as to your options for funding the claim. If LEI is unavailable to you, the most common funding arrangements for medical negligence claims are CFAs (commonly known as No win No fee agreements).

 

[john1989]

This was posted nearly 7 years ago.

 

[Lawyer James]

Oh dear, thanks for pointing that out John - still getting used to this forum!

 

[john1989]

Oh dear, thanks for pointing that out John - still getting used to this forum!

We've all done it!