Owing to the complexity of medical negligence claims, they tend to take much longer to reach court and be decided than any other type of personal injury claim. If you wish to seek compensation for negligent medical treatment then you have to put together a case which proves two things.
First, that the treatment you received was, in some way, at fault, with specific mistakes leading to it falling below the standard you might have reasonably expected. The second part of a successful claim involves proving to the court that you’ve suffered harm as a result of this negligence. Demonstrating both of these facts is something which is best placed in the hands of expert personal injury solicitors, preferably with experience of working within the field of medical negligence. According to the BBC, claims of this kind can take as long as ten years to be completed, and periods of six to seven years are not necessarily uncommon. However, should the case be settled out-of-court, you will receive your compensation a lot sooner.
It’s vital, however, that patients who genuinely feel they have been treated negligently should still feel able to pursue a claim. Taking on a huge organisation like the NHS, or even a smaller private clinic, can seem daunting, but working with a personal injury solicitor will mean that you move through the process in a logical, ordered manner, and always have someone on hand to answer questions and deal with concerns.
If you’ve suffered injury as a result of medical negligence it can have an extremely drastic effect upon the rest of your life. In the most extreme cases patients may have been left having to fund lifelong care, but even less serious cases can involve huge amounts of stress and unhappiness, as well as direct expenses such as lost earnings. If you’ve been let down by someone who you expected to care for you, then receiving compensation will go a long way toward helping you put your life back together.
