Long-Term Negligent Treatment – How Do I Claim?

Treatment for an illness or injury can at times be a lengthy process. Follow-up appointments to monitor a patient’s condition or to administer additional treatment may be necessary for the patient’s long-term health. It is a medical professional’s responsibility to make sure that every required action to treat a patient is arranged and scheduled. If a patient was to suffer harm because a medical professional failed to provide the minimum standard of care, then the patient could be eligible to sue for medical negligence. This is a guide to making a claim for suffering harm because of long-term negligent treatment. 

long term negligent treatment

A guide to claiming after long-term negligent treatment

This guide will focus on medical negligence. It will explain how a medical professional can be found to have acted negligently, talk about the duty of care they owe to a patient, and the actions a patient can take after suffering harm from negligence. It will also show you how to assess whether you are eligible to make a claim, and give you advice on how to reach out to a medical negligence solicitor to help you make a claim. 

Our advisers are available if you wish to speak to someone directly. They offer free legal advice and can consult you over your situation and assess your claim. You can reach one now by:

Select A Section 

  1. What Is Long-Term Negligent Treatment? 
  2. What Medical Conditions Could Be Harmed By Long-Term Negligence? 
  3. Who Could You Sue For Long-Term Negligent Treatment? 
  4. What Could You Claim For Long-Term Negligent Treatment? 
  5. How To Claim For The Effects Of Long-Term Medical Negligence 

What Is Long-Term Negligent Treatment? 

When dealing with an illness or injury, a medical professional has to meet the expected standard of care. They owe a duty to their patients to make sure they don’t fall below this standard when caring for their health. 

This will not only apply to the initial treatment. If an illness is identified, it becomes the healthcare provider’s responsibility to make sure the patient is treated as well as they should be for as long as the patient will require care. 

For certain conditions and injuries, follow-up appointments can be a necessity. This can be to keep an eye on the condition and recovery or to administer more treatments for the illness or injury. It is the medical professional’s responsibility to make sure the necessary appointments are scheduled and that the patient’s health is being monitored. This is called long-term treatment.

Long-term negligent treatment is the term used when a patient’s long-term treatment is substandard. This can happen if a medical provider fails to schedule necessary medical appointments or fails to make attempts to monitor the patient’s conditions even though it’s needed, for example. 

Negligence

If you as a patient were to have your condition worsen because of a negligent lack of required treatment, then you could be able to sue the medical provider. 

You could also be eligible to make a claim for compensation for the continued pain that would not have been there if you had received the correct treatment at the required time. 

If you had suffered financial losses associated with your injuries and caused by the substandard treatment, you can also claim this back. 

If your long-term treatment was negligent, please speak to one of our advisers now to discuss making a claim for medical negligence.

What Medical Conditions Could Be Harmed By Long-Term Negligence? 

Long-term treatment is common for a lot of conditions. They may be required for patients who have: 

  • Recently undergone surgery 
  • Been diagnosed with a long term-condition 
  • Been diagnosed with a serious or potentially terminal illness that will need long-term treatment such as cancer
  • Developed an unexpected disease or condition 
  • Been diagnosed with a degenerative disease 

The consequences of negligent long-term treatment in these situations can include:

  • Continued pain in a patient
  • Deterioration of a person’s health or bodily functions
  • A patient’s death

If you were harmed by long-term negligent treatment, then please speak to an adviser now for information.

Who Could You Sue For Long-Term Negligent Treatment? 

The party you could take action against is the medical provider that acted negligently in your long-term care, whether it was a private practice or possibly the NHS that may have been negligent.

Negligence is a requirement to successfully make a medical negligence claim; i.e. there will be a standard of care the medical professional will have been expected to give, but they failed to provide this. 

If your condition worsened in a way that it would not have had you received the correct treatment, then you can make a claim for suffering this complication to your health because of the medical professional’s negligence. 

You might not be eligible to make a claim if your condition worsened unexpectedly, or there were no indications to suggest that follow-up appointments or monitoring were necessary. 

You can discuss your claim with our advisers now to see if your medical provider could be found liable for your suffering.

Time Limit 

There will be a time limit to when you can make a claim. This would generally be three years from the date you were became aware of the negligent treatment causing your suffering or the date you discovered any related injuries. 

This time limit can be extended if: 

  • You are under the age of 18 – the time limit would begin from the date you turned 18. Alternatively, a litigation friend could claim on your behalf.  
  • You lack the mental capacity to claim – the time limit would begin when you regain capacity. Alternatively, a litigation friend could claim on your behalf before this.

Please speak to one of our advisers if you want to learn more about the time limit in your claim. 

What Could You Claim For Long-Term Negligent Treatment? 

If your condition worsened because your healthcare provider failed to provide necessary long-term treatment, you could make a claim for the effects this has had on you. 

For the pain and distress caused by the continuing or worsening of your condition, you can seek out compensation in general damages. This compensation will be in line with the type of injury you have suffered. We have included a table of various injuries and potential compensation below to illustrate this. The figures come from the Judicial College Guidelines. 

InjuryNotesAward
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): (a)Severe injuries leaving intense burning pain in a limb£52,500 to £84,010
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): (b)Moderate injuries with intense pain to a limb for a number of years£28,030 to £52,500
Other Pain Disorders: (a)Severe cases in which pain persists despite treatment£42,130 to £62,990
Other Pain Disorders: (b)Pain that impacted a person's ability to work£21,070 to £38,490
Scarring to other parts of bodyFor disfiguring scars across arms legs or chest£7,830 to £22,730
Facial Disfigurement: (a)Disfigurement causing psychological harm and intense pain£29,780 to £97,330
Chest Injuries: (a)Removal of a lung£100,670 to £150,110
Lung Disease: (c)Deterioration of the lung£54,830 to £70,030
Kidney Damage: (a)Permanent damage to the kidneys£169,400 to
£210,400
Bowel Injuries: (b)Loss of function and requiring outside aidUp to
£150,110

You can also make a claim for the financial losses associated with your injuries and caused because of the long-term negligent treatment. This can include: 

  • Painkillers 
  • Adaptations to cope with your injury 
  • Loss of income: If you were unable to work, for example 

If you are looking for a valuation of compensation for your claim, then please speak to one of our advisers to find out how much your claim could be worth.

How To Claim For The Effects Of Long-Term Medical Negligence 

If you were affected by long-term negligent treatment, please speak with one of our advisers over a free consultation. An adviser will merely

  • Help you assess your claim for merit
  • Discuss medical negligence with you 
  • Explain every legal option available to you

They can also put you through to a medical negligence solicitor from our panel. Our medical negligence solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis. This means their payment will depend on the outcome of your claim. 

They will not charge you an upfront solicitor’s fee, and they will not require any ongoing solicitor’s fee as they handle your claim. Their fee will only come as a success fee if your claim is successful. This fee has a legal cap and only comes as a percentage of your compensation. If your claim is not successful, you will not be required to pay this fee. To learn about what a medical negligence solicitor can do for you, please reach out to one of our advisers. 

You can do so by: 

Medical Negligence References 

We’ve included some additional resources below 

Thank you for reading our guide to making a claim for negligent long-term treatment. We offer other guides on:

Failure To Treat A Stroke

Wrong Medication Claims

Defective Medical Device Claims

Writer Marlon Campbell

Publisher Ruth Vero