County Durham Medical Negligence Solicitors – No Win No Fee Claims Lawyers Guide

Medical negligence County Durham

Medical Negligence County Durham

If you or a loved one has suffered undue harm to their health as a result of medical negligence in County Durham and you are looking for medical negligence solicitors in the County Durham area, then this guide can certainly help you. Here at Medical Negligence Assist we have a panel of specially selected medical negligence solicitors who can help you make a claim for damages no matter where you are in the country.

Medical negligence is when a doctor, nurse or any other healthcare professional fails to uphold their duty of care to their patient, which in turn results in avoidable harm or injury being caused. In cases like these, the patient or their family, with the help of a medical negligence lawyer can make a successful personal injury claim for compensation.

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How To Choose A Solicitor For A Medical Negligence Claim In County Durham

We suggest that you try not to rush when picking out a personal injury solicitor as there are a few things you should consider before making your final decision. It would be useful to look for a solicitor or personal injury lawyer with the knowledge and expertise in cases that are similar to yours as it is highly likely that they will have a good success rate in gaining a fair compensation amount for their clients. It could be beneficial to you to talk to any of your friends and family who have made a claim for personal injury as a result of medical negligence to see what solicitors they recommend. You could also seek out free online legal advice, which we can offer (see contact details below), for such questions as “How to report medical negligence” and others you may have such as as “how long will my claim take?”

You Do Not Need To Use Solicitors From Your Area

Just because you have been a victim of medical negligence in County Durham doesn’t mean you are limited to just using medical negligence solicitors in your area. You don’t need to work with solicitors ‘near me’ or a ‘medical negligence solicitor in my area’. You can work with a personal injury solicitor without meeting face to face with them via phone or email, meaning you are free to consider any personal injury lawyer from across the country as an option.

A Doctor From Our Panel Could Assess Your Health

You may need to have a medical examination done to have proof that you have suffered medical harm as a result of medical malpractice ready to support your medical negligence claim. We at medical negligence assist work with a panel of doctors and GP’s across the country who can provide such an assessment for you locally. Below is a list of practitioners near you that we work with.

Ian Watson
Evans Business Incubation centre,
Durham way south,
Newton Aycliffe,
DL5 6XP

Could Reviews Help Me Compare Medical Claims Solicitors?

We advise you to read online medical negligence solicitors reviews. Having the right solicitor for your case can mean the difference between winning and losing your claim. Find the solicitor that’s right for your case by reading reviews, remember not to limit yourself by simply googling “medical negligence solicitors in my area.” Look further afield, you aren’t limited to solicitors in your local area. Find solicitors who have been highly rated by their previous clients, especially with regards to how well they have communicated with their client throughout the claims process. You might want to look for solicitors with a record of successful claims in areas of medical negligence similar to what you have suffered from. At the end of your claim, it could be a good idea to leave a review of the solicitor that you used yourself. This will enable future claimants in their decision making process.

Claims For Medical Negligence In County Durham.

Our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors can cover County Durham and any cases of clinical negligence in County Durham. Medical negligence cases can be made in any sector of the healthcare sector, including surgical care, maternity care, nursing care and dental practice. We can make claims against private practitioner’s negligence and NHS negligence. We will go into more detail about these below.

Surgical Errors

While all surgery carries with it some risk of complications or health problems, some health problems can be caused by the negligence of the doctors performing the surgery. These such errors can range from cosmetic issues to errors in general surgery. Some examples of negligence in performing surgery could be a failure to properly close up an incision, leading to unnecessary scarring, to the most severe and inexcusable cases, known as “never events”. “Never events” are the most extreme form of surgical error in which the wrong procedure is performed or surgical instruments are left behind in the patients body.  It is the most severe form of surgical negligence because it is impossible for such instances to take place without gross malpractice and negligence on the part of the doctors performing the surgery.

Labour And Childbirth Negligence

Childbirth is one of the most exciting yet scary experiences a mother will have. Midwives, paediatricians and doctors are trained to a high standard in the UK, to deal with an complexities surrounding childbirth, but unfortunately, at times this standard can slip. If the healthcare professionals involved in delivering your baby breach their duty of care by causing you avoidable harm then you could be eligible for a claim for personal injury. Examples of medical negligence in childbirth include improper use of forceps, this can lead to the baby suffering with hypoxia that can have life changing consequences, or a mother suffering from undue tearing which has resulted in further pain, suffering and scarring.

If you or your baby have suffered as a result of this form of clinical negligence in County Durham then get in touch with us today.

County Durham Hospital Negligence

Hospital negligence refers to any instance in which a patient of a hospital has suffered avoidable harm to their health as a result of hospital staff failing to provide the duty of care that is reasonably expected of them towards all of the patients in their care. This can include suffering from infections, especially the notorious superbugs like MRSA, as a result of failing to uphold hygiene standards or failure to properly monitor your condition or monitor your prescription or medication intake. If you have suffered from hospital medical negligence and wish to make a claim, for example against University Hospital of North Durham, then our panel of expert medical solicitors can assist you in making a claim.

Residential Care Negligence

Similar to hospital negligence residential care negligence refers to cases in which staff in the residential care home have not upheld their duty of care to the residents they look after. Residents in care homes are usually elderly, disabled, suffering from long term illnesses, have severe learning disabilities or are suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s. As a result these residents are uniquely vulnerable to harm caused by negligence, this can include suffering accidents, trips and falls from a lack of supervision, suffering bedsores from not being turned and moved, suffering from malnutrition and dehydration from not having staff ensure healthy food and fluid intake, and not taking their prescriptions and medications as a result of a lack of proper supervision.

Dental Negligence

Dental negligence is when a dentist, their nurses or assistants fail to uphold their duty of care by not following the correct procedure resulting in the patient suffering undue harm. They might for example, make an error in administering anaesthesia, which in turn results in either prolonged unconsciousness or excessive pain during a procedure.  Another example of dental negligence could be the removal of the wrong tooth, or performing a procedure in a negligent manner, which has resulted in damage occurring to healthy teeth and gums as well as causing an avoidable infection.

GP Negligence

GP negligence usually relates to the early stages of diagnosing and treating a patients illness, GP negligence can include three main issues, an incorrect diagnosis due to a failure to properly carry out the diagnostic process, a delayed diagnosis without an adequate justification and/ or a failure to provide the proper prescription for the patients illness. All these forms of clinical malpractice can cause serious harm to the patients’ health. If you are looking to make a claim for medical negligence in County Durham against a GP then get in touch with us today. To find out more about claims against your GP, you can read here.

Cancer Misdiagnosis And Treatment Errors

Like with claims against GP’s this form of malpractice revolves around a failure by doctors to accurately and quickly diagnose the symptoms of cancer and begin treatment without delay. It can be difficult to prove that your doctor has delayed your cancer diagnosis due to medical negligence. However,  if it can be shown that the doctor did not follow up on hospital tests or failed to refer to the a specialist despite you attending your GP on a number of occasions with the same symptoms, then you may have a valid claim. A failure to correctly diagnose a cancer patient or delay the diagnosis could result in the patient having to undergo more evasive treatment meaning that they have suffered undue consequences as they would not have suffered with such severe side effects had the negligence not occurred. If you or your loved one have suffered avoidable harm as a result of cancer medical negligence, please contact us using the below information for free, impartial advice.

Hospitals In County Durham

  • University Hospital of North Durham
  • County Durham & Darlington N H S Trust
  • Darlington Memorial Hospital

County Durham NHS Medical Negligence Statistics

Here are some Country Durham NHS medical negligence statistics

NHS Trust Or Relevant Healthcare AuthorityNo. of claims recievedNo. of reported incidentsDamages Paid (£)
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust108612,124,044

How To Make A No Win No Fee Medical Claim

When choosing a solicitor, reading online medical negligence solicitor reviews and talking to your potential solicitor it may also benefit for you to find out if they offer no win no fee agreements. A no win no fee agreement or conditional fee agreement means that you won’t pay a penny to your solicitor if your claim is unsuccessful, and if you do win, your solicitor will take a small of percentage of your awarded damages as payment. This percentage will have been pre agreed before making your claim.

How To Start Your Claim

Call or contact us immediately to receive free advice on how to report medical negligence to our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors. Remember that there is a medical negligence claims time limit, so there is no time to lose.

Helpful links

County Durham and Darlington NHS trust website

Our personal injury claims calculator

Citizens Advice page on NHS negligence claims

University Hospital of North Durham
North Road,
Durham,
DH1 5TW

Edited by Charlotte.