Cumbria Medical Negligence Solicitors – No Win No Fee Claims Lawyers Guide

Medical negligence Cumbria

Medical negligence Cumbria

By Daniel Boimler. Last Updated 14th September 2022. If you are reading this article then your or someone close to you could have been harmed by medical negligence. You may be wondering what medical negligence is, how it could happen, when you could claim and how to pick a solicitor. In this article we look at these different aspects of information which those harmed by medical negligence may need to know. We also explain why you are not limited to medical negligence solicitors in Cumbria.

Medical negligence could be defined as avoidable mistakes being made by a physician or other healthcare provider during your treatment due to medical negligence causing unnecessary harm. For you to be able to claim compensation via a solicitor or specialist personal injury lawyer, you will need to have been harmed as a result of this. In this article we look at just some of the ways in which you may be harmed by negligence and have recourse to claim compensation.

When you are ready to begin your compensation claim, phone us on 0800 652 3087.

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How Do I Choose The Right Solicitor?

No matter the reason why you need to find and use a solicitor, whether for a medical negligence claim or for other reasons, you probably want to make sure that the solicitor you pick to handle your case is the best person for the job. Having the right solicitor work on your claim could be a very valuable choice in the overall claims process.

Things to consider when filtering down which solicitor to use;

  1. Ask whether they specialise in this type of case/claim.
  2. Ask whether you could make a no win no fee claim (we shall look at these later).
  3. Don’t worry about where they are based.
  4. Ask if they have reviews of there service which you can read.
  5. Ask what experience they have in conducting this type of claim.

Below we look at two of these areas which we think are important, looking at whether location is important and the role of recommendations.

Should I Limit My Search To Solicitors In Cumbria?

There is no legal requirement to use a local solicitor. We do not recommend that your search for a solicitor should be geographically limited. Limiting your search to your local area may mean you miss out on using a solicitor that specialises in such cases as yours and has a good success rate. Why limit yourself to just those based locally? You may not have to visit your solicitor’s offices as in most cases contact can be conducted remotely in a variety of ways. There is often no specific advantage to using a locally based personal injury solicitor.

Compare Reviews Of A Medical Claims Solicitor

One of the best ways to compare and contrast different solicitors who could help people make claims is to look at whether or not their previous clients have been happy with their services. Look up online reviews, recommendations and testimonials by typing ‘medical negligence solicitor reviews’ into a search engine. Medical negligence solicitor reviews could be a useful way to distinguish who maybe best experienced and qualified to handle your claim. However, these may not always paint a complete picture and so we do also recommend that you get in touch with our team to better see how we could help you.

A Doctor From Our Specialist Panel Could Carry Out Your Medical Exam

As part of the process of starting a claim your solicitor may request that you have a medical examination with an impartial doctor. This is to better understand how your health has been affected and ascertain what any long-term consequences may be. It is also to produce impartial evidence to be used in the claims process.

Experts who may carry out your assessment, such as those listed below.

Ian Kerss
South Lakeland Physiotherapy
58 Hartington Street
Barrow in Furness
LA14 5SR

Huma Afzal
35 Lowther street carlisle
carlisle
CA3 8DH

Types Of Medical Negligence Which You Could Claim For

There are numerous different reasons why you may need to make a personal injury claim for medical negligence in Cumbria. You may have been harmed by a doctor, a dentist or any other health care practitioner or a physician who provided treatment that was negligent.

In this article we do look in detail at examples of clinical negligence, we do not include all different types. If you have been harmed by any of the forms of negligence discussed in this article, those which are listed below, or indeed any others, please contact us to see if a personal injury lawyer could help you.

Some types of medical and clinical negligence could include;

  • Negligence in cosmetic procedures, such as cosmetic surgery.
  • Pharmacy negligence.
  • ENT negligence.
  • A and E negligence.
  • Care home negligence.

General Practitioner Negligence

Claims for general practice negligence could happen in different ways and for different reasons. Our panel of medical negligence lawyers and solicitors could help you to pursue a claim for GP negligence. Whilst negligence caused by a general practice doctor is rare, if it does happen it could cause the patient not only to suffer health wise but great anguish also.

Examples of GP negligence could include;

  • Not investigating symptoms reported by a patient.
  • Not referring a patient for specialist testing or care.
  • Not acting on the results of a test.
  • Not keeping accurate records.
  • Not prescribing the right medication.

It is very important to note that a negligent act alone will not mean that a patient can make a claim for damages, the patient must be harmed in some way due to the negligence. A medical negligence solicitor will want to prove that the GP breached their duty of care and through negligence a patient was harmed unnecessarily.

 

Negligent Dental Treatment

If you have been harmed by negligent dental treatment, you may need to undergo corrective procedures or require additional medical care. This may not be just to treat your underlying or original condition, but also to put right harm which has been caused by negligence. This may be both expensive and indeed painful. Negligent mistakes in dental treatment could be made by a dentist working in the private sector or the NHS. All dental staff regardless of which industry they work in all owe their patients a duty of care to keep them safe whenever possible.

If you think that you were harmed because of negligence on the part of a dentist, you could make a medical complaint against them and subsequently possibly claim compensation.

Neglect In A Residential Care Home

Nursing homes, care homes or any form of residential care facility have a duty of care to ensure that all residents of the care home are fully and appropriately cared for. This care could take the form of ensuring that they have medical treatment as necessary, or that they are properly fed and that their basic needs are met.

Whilst care home negligence could take several forms, those which may be frequently seen are,

  • Bed sores/ pressure sores due to little or no movement.
  • Neglect leading to physical or mental health problems.
  • Nutritional neglect.
  • Not providing the right medication at the right time, or failing to meet other medical needs causing the resident to become ill.

Negligence And Poor Surgery

According to the Royal College of Surgeons, there are as many as 4.7 million surgeries each year carried out by the NHS in the UK. As we can see, surgical procedures are quite common in the UK. The majority of these procedures will be uneventful and have the desired outcome. However, if surgeons or their team do not always provide a minimum standard, surgery may go wrong and the patient’s health could be harmed as a result.

Negligence could take the form of poor surgery being carried out (where avoidable mistakes were made) or even the wrong operation being carried out. Unnecessary delays to surgery being carried out could also cause preventable suffering and people could be injured by mistakes such as perforations of an healthy organ or internal tissue during the operation.

Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can help deliver successful surgical negligence claims for more advice or information please do not hesitate to call our advisors the number is near the bottom of the guide.

Do I Have A Medical Negligence Case?

Medical professionals working within medical services in Cumbria owe a duty of care. The duty of care medically trained professionals owe is to provide the correct level of care. If this is breached and harm is caused, this is known be considered medical negligence in the UK.

However, not all injuries sustained in a medical setting can be categorised as medical negligence. There are certain criteria that need to be met in order for you to be eligible to claim.

Below, we have included some examples of scenarios that could fit the description of medical negligence in the UK. This is not a complete list, there can be other examples too.

  • Wrong site surgery – When you have had an operation performed on the wrong part of the body.
  • Misdiagnosis – If a doctor misses or misinterprets symptoms of an injury and you suffer as a result.
  • Prescription errors – Your health could be affected by the lack of necessary medication. Alternatively, you may have been prescribed the correct medication but with the dose being either too high or too low.

To find out if you could claim compensation, get in touch with our advisors today.

Negligence Causing Birth Injuries

During labour and childbirth mothers and babies can be more vulnerable than at other times. They need to be able to rely upon their doctor, midwife or nurse to provide the correct testing or care and at the right time. To ensure there are no problems or issues, tests should have been carried out during the antenatal period on the expectant mother and feotus. The birth itself should also be supervised and carried out by a competent professional.

If negligence is present during the birth of a child injuries that could result maybe devastating for either the baby, mother or both. If the medical team during stages of the delivery process act in a negligent way or provide negligent treatment and either mother or baby or both are harmed as a result it maybe possible to pursue a claim for compensation.

To help you secure a medical negligence payout for harm caused during childbirth, talk to our team and see if a personal injury solicitor could help you.

Hospital Errors And Negligence

Hospitals provide numerous amount of services for those that need the help of medical professionals. If medical staff carrying out these services do not always maintain the minimum level of standards that are required patients can be harmed unnecessarily. Harm could be caused in different ways and at different stages in a patient’s treatment journey. Although no medical professional would ever want to cause a patient further suffering if sometimes when stretched to the limit resources may run thin.

Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Cumbria area and could help in instances such as,

  • Infections which were contracted in the hospital due to negligence.
  • Errors in medications that cause ill adverse effects.
  • Bed sore claims due to lack of movement by medical staff.
  • Negligence in surgery causing avoidable injuries.

Negligent Cancer Care

A medical negligence solicitor from our panel of experts could help you to claim compensation for negligent misdiagnosis of cancer if it has caused you to suffer more than you would have. Cancer can be a very devastating illness and affects many people across the country. Whilst receiving a diagnosis can be difficult, it may be much more difficult to hear such a diagnosis was delayed due to negligent medical treatment. Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Cumbria area and could help those affected by negligent misdiagnosis in regards to conditions such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer and other illnesses. They could also help if you have other types of cancer which have been exacerbated due to negligent medical care.

Major Hospitals In Cumbria

Cumbria is a county in England’s North-West and is home to almost half a million residents (498,400). Major population settlements in the county include Carlisle as well as Barrow in Furness and Kendall. Spread across a large area of over 2,500 square miles, the county is home to several large hospital facilities. We have listed these below in case you have suffered due to negligent medical treatment at any of these facilities and need to make a personal injury claim.

NHS Hospitals In Cumbria

  • The West Cumberland Hospital.
  • The Cumberland Infirmary.
  • Westmorland General Hospital.

Private Healthcare/ Hospitals

  • BMI The Lancaster Hospital .
  • BMI Gisburne Park.
  • Spire Fylde Coast Hospital

If you need to find out more about North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust compensation claims, or those against private healthcare services, please contact our team.

Statistics For Medical Negligence Claims Against Cumbria NHS Trusts

As we have seen medical negligence is a very wide and varied term which encompases multiple circumstances and which could affect patients through NHS negligence or errors in private healthcare. Whilst we do not know the exact total number of people who are resident in Cumbria affected by medical negligence, such as negligence at West Cumberland hospital, we do have data to look at those harmed due to errors attributed to and who claimed for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust compensation as well as those harmed at other local NHS trusts. This includes anyone harmed by negligence at West Cumberland Hospital and Westmorland General Hospital.

NHS Trust Or Relevant Healthcare AuthorityNo. of claims recievedNo. of reported incidentsCNST Damages Paid
Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust**231,000
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust44*8,723,573
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust61114,627,210

What Is A No Win No Fee Claim?

Whether harmed because of poor surgery or negligence at West Cumberland Hospital, if you considering suing for medical negligence, the last thing which you should be worried about is how to fund the claims process. This is why many of the cases which are dealt with by our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors are done so through no win no fee agreements.

Such an agreement means that you will not pay any costs upfront and will only need to pay anything if and when your case is successful is claiming compensation. If you win your case, any fees due can be paid from your settlement, with you retaining the remainder. Your medical negligence solicitor will keep in contact with you through the claims process to ensure that you know what is happening and will use a personal injury claims calculator to help estimate how much you may be able to claim.

Talk To Our Team

If this guide has helped you to better understand the process of suing for medical negligence and why you do not need to claim with medical negligence solicitors in Cumbria you may wish to contact our team either to find out more, or to get the claims process started. You can contact our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors and team by phone or online contact form. You can also get your personal injury claim started by filling in the online claims form.

  • Call us directly on 0800 652 3087.
  • Make an enquiry via the online contact form above.
  • Get your claim started today by filling in our online claims form.

However you choose to get in touch with our experts, we are on hand seven days a week to discuss your case.

Cumbria Area Resources

Here you can find out more about both medical services in Cumbria as well as where to find more information on making a claim on our site.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust

Newtown Rd,

Carlisle

CA2 7HY

This is the major NHS Trust providing medical services across the Cumbria region. Claims for NHS negligence may be made against this (or other) healthcare body.

Cumbria Hospitals
Cumbria is a large region with multiple medical services. At this local government resource you can find your nearest hospital.

How To Claim Online
Get your personal injury claim started today by filling in this form.

Edited by LisM.