One of the most important tasks, when looking for a solicitor to help with a claim, is trying to find the right medical negligence solicitors to help you. There are a number of ways of choosing which this guide will provide information on. If you’ve been searching for medical negligence solicitors in Grimsby, we can explain how expertise should top location.
Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Grimsby area which means you don’t necessarily need to look locally. We’ll provide more information on this throughout the guide but, if you’re ready to discuss your claim today, you can call us right away on 0800 652 3087. If you would like to know more first, then please carry on reading.
Choose A Section
- How Do I Choose The Right Medical Malpractice Solicitor?
- Do I Have To Use Medical Negligence Solicitors Near Me?
- Injuries May Be Assessed By Our Local Panel Of Medical Experts
- How Helpful Are Medical Negligence Solicitors Reviews?
- Examples Of Medical Negligence Cases Our Team Could Handle
- Cancer Misdiagnosis Or Treatment Errors
- Pregnancy Or Birth Injury Negligence
- Negligence In Operations And Surgical Care
- Hospital Negligence
- GP Medical Or Clinical Negligence
- Care Negligence Claims
- Neglect In Dental Care
- Statistics And Data For Claims Against Local NHS Authorities And Trusts
- No Win No Fee Claims For Clinical Or Medical Negligence
- Grimsby Area Hospitals
- Contact Our Team
- Further References
How Do I Choose The Right Medical Malpractice Solicitor?
When beginning a personal injury claim (or more specifically, a medical malpractice claim), choosing the right medical negligence solicitor can take some time. A good place to start might be medical negligence solicitor’s reviews or seeking recommendations from friends and family. Both of these are good starting points but throughout this guide we’ll provide more guidance on what to look for.
Before beginning your search, it is important to establish if you have a valid case for medical negligence and a good place to start is knowing what actually is medical malpractice. A simplified definition that can be used is; medical negligence is substandard treatment from a medical professional which has caused you to become injured, made ill or hand your current condition worsen.
A medical negligence solicitor will assess if a medical practitioner of the same ability would have caused the same type of harm. Negligence could be caused by doctors, care workers, nurses, dentists, surgeons, paediatricians, midwives, the private health care sector if the standard of treatment that has been offered is below the expected standard and in turn has caused the patient harm.
One important thing to note is that there is a medical negligence claims time limit that applies to all claims. You have 3 years to claim from the date the negligence happened or from the date that you found out about the injuries it caused. There are exceptions for more information please call our team the number is at the bottom of the guide. Although that sounds like a long time, you should try and contact a personal injury solicitor as soon as you can following the negligence to allow them time to collate all of the supporting evidence.
Our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors have the knowledge and expertise to be able to assist almost all types of medical negligence cases whether it be hospital negligence or care home negligence.
Do I Have To Use Medical Negligence Solicitors Near Me?
We often hear statements like, “Shouldn’t I use medical negligence solicitors in my area?” when there’s little reason to do so. It’s far better to choose a solicitor because of their experience, recent case success and their specialisms than simply where their office is located.
This is because you don’t need to visit a solicitor to bring a claim for medical negligence if you do not feel the need to. Communication can be carried out over the phone, email and the postal service. Face to face meetings are not a requirement other than for medical assessments unless you prefer to speak with your solicitor within their office. For that reason, we have a panel of medical specialists all over the UK to ensure our clients don’t need to travel far. See the next section for details of specialists who we could use in the Grimsby area.
Hopefully, you can now see that even though you were looking for medical negligence solicitors in Grimsby, you can pick from specialists anywhere in the country rather than limiting your choice.
Injuries May Be Assessed By Our Local Panel Of Medical Experts
As we mentioned in the previous section, we have a panel of local specialists in the Grimsby area who we can call upon to undertake any medical assessment required. Here is a sample:
David Pontefract
Physio Works,
367 St Nicholas Drive,
Wybers Wood,
Grimsby, DN37 9RD.
Summet Vohra
The Achilles Centre,
6 Dudley Street,
Grimsby, DN31 2AB.
Asad Nadeem Khan
Physiofirst Centre,
King Edward Street,
Grimsby, DN31 3LA.
How Helpful Are Medical Negligence Solicitors Reviews?
As with many services these days, you can find information about solicitors by reading reviews. We think they’re a great place to start and offer you an insight to how happy their previous clients have been with the services provided.
However, once you’ve selected a few solicitors based on their reviews, we think it’s much better to speak with them directly. The solicitors that we use are all medical negligence solicitors and happy to discuss your claim with you. It’s a much better way to find out what they can do for you and how they plan to handle your case for you.
Examples Of Medical Negligence Cases Our Team Could Handle
Over the next few sections, we’re going to go over some examples of medical negligence cases that might lead to a compensation claim. If you don’t see an example similar to your claim, don’t worry, we could still help so please call to discuss the details of your claim.
Cancer Misdiagnosis Or Treatment Errors
The benefits of an early cancer diagnosis, for many cancers, can’t be under-stated. Getting treatment early can mean the cancer never proceeds past stage one and the patient suffers as little as possible.
Sometimes though, the cancer is diagnosed at a much later stage meaning more intrusive treatment or, in some cases, the cancer is untreatable and becomes a life-limiting condition. While this can’t be avoided in some cases, if in other cases the late diagnosis was the responsibility of the medical professionals the news can be even more so devastating.
In cases where a GP, hospital doctor or cancer specialist had the opportunity to spot the cancer earlier or diagnosed it as something else which led to a late diagnosis and the patient suffering more than they would’ve done had it been diagnosed at the first opportunity, a claim for compensation might be possible.
Pregnancy Or Birth Injury Negligence
All staff responsible for the birth of a baby have a duty of care to the mother and baby to ensure they’re well looked after and the correct procedures are followed at all times. If they fail to follow procedures or fail to spot a problem during pregnancy, labour or post-birth, then their carelessness could be deemed a negligent act. In order to pursue a claim for pregnancy negligence or birth injuries the fact that negligence has taken place will not be enough to make you eligible to claim there must have been harmed caused due to the negligence.
If you believe you or your baby suffered due to a negligent act, whether in a maternity ward, a home birth or elsewhere, call our team to discuss whether you could begin a claim or not.
Negligence In Operations And Surgical Care
Surgery often has risks associated with it and the surgeon will usually explain the risks to patients before undertaking the procedure. You may think therefore, that if anything goes wrong, the surgeon is covered, but it is vital not to mistake error for pre-informed risks. Despite the risks, if a patient suffers because of a negligent act during surgery then operation compensation might be possible.
Some examples of surgical errors that maybe deemed negligent could include:
- When items are left inside the patient after the operation.
- Perforation of healthy organs.
- When they suffer pain due to an anaesthetic mistake.
- If the surgeon performs an operation on the wrong part of the body.
Hospital Negligence
Hospitals at all times must continue to perform at the recommended standard so that patients health are not put at risk. If for whatever reasons the standard of care a patient receives is below the set guideline the hospital open themselves up to liability if harm is caused. Everyday patients put their health in the hand of the medical practitioners and they have a huge responsibility there is no doubting that. It is crucial that medical staff do not become complacent as patients could suffer.
Examples of hospital negligence could include:
- If a patient contracts an illness such as MRSA through poor hygiene practices.
- Surgical error which causes damage to internal healthy organs.
- If they’re prescribed the wrong medication which causes further health problems.
- Or if they receive an incorrect or late diagnosis causing delayed treatment which may mean their health may deteriorate.
GP Medical Or Clinical Negligence
Before visiting a hospital for treatment, patients will very often visit their GP for their first assessment. GP’s are sometimes under considerable time pressure to assess, diagnose and prescribe medicines but in many cases get it right on the first appointment.
If they make a mistake though, it can lead to the patient suffering. For example, if the doctor doesn’t spot a problem, diagnoses it as something else or provides the wrong medicine to treat a condition the current condition may go diagnosed and the patient could suffer worse. In these cases, you may be able to claim for medical negligence against the GP.
Care Negligence Claims
Some of the most vulnerable patients need round the clock support which can only be provided by care homes or nursing homes. The staff in care homes are bound by a duty of care to provide care according to agreed procedures but if they fail to meet the minimum requirements, and a care home resident is harmed they could be deemed negligent.
In cases, like the following, care negligence claims might be possible if you or a loved one were injured.
- Injuries caused by pressure sores because the patient was not moved regularly.
- Any suffering caused because the patients medicine wasn’t dispensed.
- Any type of abusive act towards a care home patient.
- Injuries caused by falls following a lifting procedure that was carried out incorrectly due to poor staff training.
Neglect In Dental Care
A dentist could also be held accountable for medical negligence if they cause a patient to be injured through negligent treatment. The same is true for other dental staff like hygienists and dental nurses, if they breach their duty of care and it leads to a patient becoming harmed then the patient may be eligible to pursue a claim for compensation.
Some examples of dental negligence include:
- Pain caused by incorrect anaesthetic doses.
- Injuries to other teeth or the mouth during surgery.
- Pain that was caused by undergoing treatment that wasn’t necessary.
Statistics And Data For Claims Against Local NHS Authorities And Trusts
In the table below, we’ve taken data from NHS statistics which show the amount of compensation paid for hospital and NHS negligence claims made against the NHS trust in the Grimsby area.
Healthcare Provider | Claims in 2017/2018 | Number of Incidents 2017/2018 | Damages Payments |
---|---|---|---|
Northern Lincolnshire & Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 84 | 8 | £5,686,381 |
Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Grimsby area so could help you to begin a claim if you’ve suffered any form of any NHS negligence in the Grimsby area.
No Win No Fee Claims For Clinical Or Medical Negligence
If you’re worried about the cost of making a medical negligence claim, then don’t worry too much as most medical negligence lawyers offer a no win no fee service. This means that:
- You don’t pay the solicitor up front.
- They don’t get paid at all if they fail to win the case.
- If your case is won their success fee will be deducted from the commendation.
Success fees are agreed prior to beginning the claim and are limited by law to 25% of any compensation, although this might be less.
Grimsby Area Hospitals
For your information, we’ve listed some of the larger hospitals, NHS and private, which provide services for residents in the Grimsby area.
- Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital.
- Scunthorpe General.
- Google General.
- St Hugh’s Hospital.
- Spire Hull and East Riding Hospital.
If you’ve suffered at any of these hospitals, then we have a panel of solicitors who are experts in medical negligence cases. Please call our team of specialist advisors today to discuss beginning your claim.
Contact Our Team
If you’re ready to discuss your claim with our team then you can call us free on 0800 652 3087 or, if you prefer, fill in this online form and we’ll call you back.
Further References
For further information, here are some more guides which you might find useful.
Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital – The website of the local NHS hospital in Grimsby.
Symptoms of Cancer – A useful guide, written by the NHS, about signs to lookout for to help spot the early signs of cancer.
Personal Injury Claims Calculator – This page explains the amounts of compensation that can be paid for different injuries.
GP Negligence Claims – We briefly mentioned claims against a GP, but this guide provides a more detailed look at when you could claim.
Birth Injury Claims – This guide provides more information about the types of injury which could lead to a claim during childbirth.
Edited by Melis.