If you have experienced medical negligence at the hands of a doctor, nurse or other medical professional, you may be entitled to make a compensation claim. Understanding whether your treatment fell below required standards, and how you can start a claim can be daunting. As such, it is essential to establish a medical negligence claim with the support of an experienced solicitor.
It is also important to act as soon as possible, as strict time limits apply. Failing to start the process in time can restrict your ability to make a medical negligence compensation claim or mean you will lose the opportunity. Here, the experienced medical negligence solicitors at JMW explain how you can determine whether you received negligent treatment and the first steps you need to take if you are eligible to make a claim for compensation to cover the pain, suffering and financial losses associated with your substandard care.

Gather evidence during your recovery

A clinical or medical negligence claim demands detailed medical evidence to show that you experienced avoidable harm - such as a surgical injury, a condition developing into a later stage or a worse prognosis for recovery - caused by medical negligence. In the immediate aftermath of your treatment, before you begin legal proceedings to seek compensation, there are steps you can take to improve your chances of a successful claim.

The first is to gather evidence that shows the progress of your recovery. This could include:  

• keeping a pain diary where you describe your experiences. 
• noting down the dates and times of any GP appointments, medical procedures, follow-ups and other relevant stages of your recovery
• keeping receipts of any expenses related to your treatment, including any prescription charges or transportation costs to and from appointments.

This evidence will form a key element of your claim, alongside your medical records and input from independent medical experts. It can also be given to a clinical negligence solicitor before your claim begins and will help them to assess whether you are entitled to seek compensation based on your experiences.

A clinical negligence case hinges on whether or not a medical professional failed to uphold the required standards of care. We need to prove:

• A duty of care was owed: That a doctor, nurse or other medical or healthcare professional owed you a duty of care
• The duty of care was breached: That the medical professional in question failed in their duty of care by delivering care at a standard below what is expected of a competent professional.
• Avoidable harm was caused: That when medical negligence occurred, it led to harm that should otherwise have been avoided.

Contact a medical negligence solicitor

The first step of the claims process is to contact a specialist medical negligence solicitor. 

Contact a medical negligence lawyer to discuss the circumstances of your medical care and the harm you experienced as a result. Based on this free initial assessment, the team at JMW can advise you on whether or not they think you could make a claim.

We are usually able to take on claims on a no win, no fee basis,. This allows you to seek clinical negligence compensation without any financial risk. Your solicitor will also advise you of other funding options that are available.

If you decide to move ahead, a solicitor can submit the necessary paperwork to register your intent to claim, and begin building a case on your behalf.

Build your case

When you choose to take your medical negligence case forward, we will get to work on gathering evidence and building your case for a claim. We use the available evidence to calculate how much compensation you should be owed, and to show the negligent party that they are liable for the harm you experienced. If necessary, we will take this evidence into court proceedings to prove to a judge that negligence by a medical or healthcare provider led to unnecessary harm.

We will typically contact independent medical experts and have them review your medical records to assess whether the treatment you received met the necessary standards. It is important to assess the full extent of any harm, meaning that the physical and psychological impact must be taken into account.

When we have built the strongest possible case, we will contact the negligent party and let them know that you intend to make a medical negligence claim.

The medical negligence claims process

The clinical negligence claims process differs from this stage depending on the other party's response. Our detailed guide to the medical negligence claims process breaks this down into further detail, to help you understand what to expect once the legal proceedings get underway. The key thing to know is that we can help you to seek a claim for medical negligence from both private and NHS hospitals, and that the process is very similar. JMW's specialist medical negligence solicitors understand the nuances of the process that can help us to deliver the best chance of success in each case.