Medical negligence Lewisham
Choosing the best medical negligence solicitor to help you make a claim can be somewhat daunting. This is because it could have an impact on what amount of compensation you’re awarded or whether you win the case or not. So how do you choose? Well, this guide is going to provide advice on what questions to ask if you’re looking for medical negligence solicitors in Lewisham.
You could simply contact us as our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors who are not based in Lewisham but could cover the area with ease can help you with a no win no fee claim service. If you would like to get in touch to discuss your claim, please call 0800 652 3087 today.
Alternatively, please continue reading the rest of this guide to find out more.
Choose A Section
- What Is The Best Way To Find A Medical Claims Solicitor?
- Do I Need To Claim With A Medical Negligence Solicitor In Lewisham?
- Our Panel Of Doctors Covering Lewisham Could Conduct Your Examination
- Can You Trust Online Reviews Of Solicitors?
- Explaining Different Medical Negligence Claims
- Lewisham Hospital Negligence Claims
- Lewisham GP Claims
- Errors And Mistakes In Surgery
- Care Home Negligence
- Pregnancy, Maternity And Birth Injuries
- Cancer Treatment Errors And Mistakes
- Negligent Dental Treatment
- Number Of Claims Against Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
- Hospitals And Clinics In Lewisham
- How Do No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims Work?
- Start Your Claim
- Where To Learn More
What Is The Best Way To Find A Medical Claims Solicitor?
Throughout this guide, we’re going to provide advice on what to look for in a personal injury lawyer to ensure they’re the right one to help you. Before we do though, you should use the questions below to check if you could make a claim:
- First of all, did you receive substandard treatment from a medical professional?
- Did that treatment cause your pre-existing condition to get worse, make you ill or cause you to suffer an injury?
- And did that treatment take place within the 3-year medical negligence claims time limit? (There are some exceptions to this rule, please contact us to discuss this matter further).
If you’ve answered yes to all 3 questions, you could have grounds to make a successful claim for medical negligence.
Some of the things people do to help when choosing a solicitor could be to ask friends for advice, read medical negligence solicitor reviews or simply ask a member of their family for a recommendation. While these steps might work, it’s possible that a solicitor who was good for a friend may not be the right one for you. Therefore, we’ll give you guidance on what to look for when discussing your claim with any solicitor that’s recommended to you.
Do I Need To Claim With A Medical Negligence Solicitor In Lewisham?
You may think it’s better to stick with local solicitors when beginning your claim but, in reality, there’s no need to do so. In fact, by staying local, you could be limiting your choices drastically.
We suggest that it’s far better to choose a solicitor because they specialise in medical negligence claims, have years of experience in doing so and have a good success rate when it comes to claims similar in nature to yours.
There’s no need to meet your solicitor face to face because, in this modern world, the claim can be dealt with over email or telephone which can make things happen faster.
Our Panel Of Doctors Covering Lewisham Could Conduct Your Examination
To ensure you don’t have to travel far during your claim if you choose to let our panel of medical negligence solicitors assist you, we have a panel of doctors and medical specialists who can perform any medical assessment required as part of your claim. Some of the local specialists in and around Lewisham include:
Abhinav Gulihar
Chiropractic Health Centre,
145 Lee Road,
London, SE3 9DJ.
Mohammed Ahmed
Rushey Green Group,
Hawstead Road,
London, SE6 4JH.
Can You Trust Online Reviews Of Solicitors?
As mentioned earlier, reviews of medical negligence solicitors can be a handy tool in your search but mainly as a starting point.
You can usually garner some good information from previous clients such as how professional the solicitor was, how often they updated the client and whether the client was happy with how much compensation they received.
To get information you won’t get from a review though, we recommend you pick up the phone and speak directly to the solicitor. You could get important information from the phone call such as when the solicitor will update you, how much compensation they hope to receive for your claim and, importantly, how they plan to manage your claim.
Explaining Different Medical Negligence Claims
To help you understand what sort of case a personal injury solicitor might take on, we’re going to provide some examples of medical negligence over the coming sections. Remember, any personal injury claim for medical negligence needs to be made within 3 years of the negligent act occurring.
Lewisham Hospital Negligence Claims
There are times where you might need to make a claim against University Hospital Lewisham or any other hospital, including private hospitals in the region. This can happen when staff fail to follow the correct procedures or use the incorrect equipment which causes you to suffer an injury, become ill or for your pre-existing condition to be made worse.
Some examples of hospital negligence include:
- Injuries caused by any form of surgical negligence.
- Suffering caused when the wrong medicine is administered.
- Complications and suffering caused by delays in treatment because of a misdiagnosis.
- Illnesses contracted because you caught MRSA in the hospital.
Lewisham GP Claims
A GP often sees a multitude of different problems every week. They have to try and diagnose the problem correctly, prescribe a treatment or refer the patient for tests with a specialist and all within a 10-minute appointment.
But even the best GP in Lewisham can make a mistake. If they do, and this causes the patient to suffer, then it could be possible to make claim against the GP.
This could be because treatment was delayed due to a misdiagnosis or late diagnosis causing the patient to suffer or because the doctor prescribed incorrect medication meaning the patient’s condition became worse.
If you’d like to discuss a claim against a GP practice, a walk-in centre in Lewisham or a private doctor in Lewisham, please get in touch and speak with one of our advisors who can advise you of your options.
Errors And Mistakes In Surgery
Surgeons perform very complex and difficult procedures regularly. They usually let the patient know what the procedure is and any risks that are associated with the procedure. That doesn’t mean they’re exempt from being sued if they make a mistake though.
If a surgeon, or their team, are negligent during an operation which causes the patient to suffer in any way, then a compensation claim might be possible.
Here are some examples:
- Pain caused when the patient wakes during surgery because of an anaesthetic mistake.
- Wrongful amputation.
- Items of surgical equipment being left inside the patient causing complications.
- Faulty or inadequate medical clips that mean remedial surgery is required.
Care Home Negligence
While it can be a hard thing to have to do, there might come a time when you need to place a loved one in a care home. Doing so requires you to have faith in the care home management and staff and trusting them to look after your loved one to make them as comfortable as possible throughout their stay.
There are health and safety guidelines for care homes to protect patients which means, if a patient is injured or made ill because the guidelines weren’t followed, you could claim for any suffering caused.
Examples of care home negligence include:
- Not moving patients regularly meaning they suffer from bedsores.
- Using incorrect lifting methods, causing the patient to suffer injuries if they fall.
- Failing to dispense the medication that the patient has been prescribed which causes them to become ill.
Pregnancy, Maternity And Birth Injuries
Any medical professional helping with the delivery of a baby will have been trained extensively before they’re allowed to participate. This is so that they know all of the correct procedures to follow, how to deal with any problems that occur and when to call in specialist help if something goes wrong.
If they fail to follow the correct procedures, don’t spot or don’t react properly to a problem occurring which causes either mother or baby to suffer an injury, then a compensation claim could be made against the hospital for any pain, suffering or long-term illnesses the negligent actions or omissions caused.
Cancer Treatment Errors And Mistakes
Advances in cancer detection and treatments over recent years mean the chances of surviving some cancers has increased dramatically. It is usually the case that the chances increase the sooner the cancer is diagnosed.
A delay in treatment can allow the cancer to spread. This might mean a patient suffers more as their symptoms worsen or they might need to undergo more painful treatment than they would’ve done if the cancer was spotted earlier.
If the delay in treatment resulted in a late diagnosis or misdiagnosis by a medical professional, then the patient, or a loved one, could seek compensation for the suffering caused by the delay.
Negligent Dental Treatment
Dentists should ensure that they are using the right equipment for the job (which is well maintained), maintain hygiene standards and follow the correct procedures wherever possible. Not doing so could be a breach of their duty of care towards the patient and could constitute negligence. If the patient suffers because of the negligent act, then compensation might be a possibility.
Examples of dental negligence include:
- Any damage caused to healthy teeth or gums during treatment.
- Pain during treatment caused by anaesthetic errors.
- Any misdiagnosis which leads to treatment that was not needed.
Number Of Claims Against Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
The table below, for the 2017-18 period, shows the number of complaints made for NHS negligence in the Lewisham area. It also includes the amount of compensation paid out in the period.
| Healthcare Provider | Claims in 2017/2018 | Number of Incidents 2017/2018 | CNST Damages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust | 63 | 8 | £25,044,422 |
Source: NHS statistics
Hospitals And Clinics In Lewisham
Here is a list of the main hospitals and medical centres in the Lewisham area:
- University Hospital Lewisham.
- King’s College Hospital.
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
- BMI The Blackheath Hospital.
- Boundfield Medical Centre.
- Novum Health Partnership.
Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Lewisham area so could help claim for any NHS negligence against Lewisham and Greenwich NHS trust that occurred at a hospital or Lewisham medical centre. We could also help you to make claims for negligence at a private care centre in Lewisham (or private hospital).
How Do No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims Work?
You might be worried about hiring a medical negligence lawyer to make your claim because you’re not sure of the costs involved. Well, to make things easier, our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors all offer a no win no fee agreements for any case they agree to help with.
No win no fee means:
- That there’s no upfront fees or charges required for the case to begin.
- You don’t have to pay anything if your chosen solicitor doesn’t win your case.
- There’s no need to find the funds to pay the solicitor if they win the case. They take their success fee (maximum of 25% by law) directly from the compensation.
Because you’re not risking your own money, no win no fee is the most stress free and easiest way of making a claim.
Start Your Claim
If you are ready to talk to us about your healthcare negligence claim today, then you can speak to an advisor by calling us on 0800 652 3087. If you’d rather we call you when it’s convenient, then fill in this form and we’ll get back to you.
Where To Learn More
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide about finding medical negligence solicitors in Lewisham. To help you further, here are some more useful guides and external resources:
University Hospital Lewisham
High Street,
Lewisham, SE13 6LH.
Web:www.lewishamandgreenwich.nhs.uk
Inspection Report – In the latest report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), University Hospital Lewisham was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall.
Care Home Health & Safety – A guide to health & safety for care home management from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Surgical Negligence – This guide explains when mistakes in general surgery or errors in cosmetic surgery could lead to a compensation claim.
Hospital Negligence Claims – Information on when a claim against a hospital could be made including pharmacy errors, negligence by a paramedic as well as A&E claims.
Written by Brett.
Edited by Charlotte.