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

Medical negligence Livingston

Medical negligence Livingston

By Daniel Boimler. Last Updated 11th November 2022. The big worry for many people when looking for medical negligence solicitors in Livingston, is how they choose the best one to help them. This guide aims to help those people by explaining what to look for when choosing a medical negligence solicitor. We’ll also provide examples of the types of negligence which could lead to a claim.

Our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors are not based in the Livingston but conduct claims in the Livingston area and always offer a no win no fee service for claims they agree to take on.

If you would like to discuss a claim today, please give us a call on 0800 652 3087 and speak with an advisor.  If you would rather find out more first, then please carry on reading.

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How Do I Find The Right Medical Claims Solicitors?

Before working out which is the best personal injury solicitor to help you make a medical negligence claim, you should use this checklist to help determine whether you could claim or not:

  • Did you receive negligent treatment or care from a medical professional?
  • Were you injured, made ill or was your existing condition made worse because of the negligent treatment?

If you can answer yes to both of these questions, then you could be able to seek compensation for your injuries or illness.

So, when choosing a solicitor, you might ask friends for advice, research by using medical negligence solicitor’s reviews or even ask family for a recommendation. These steps could all prove useful when you are looking for a solicitor, but we have also created this guide to provide information about what to look for which you could use as well to help identify the best personal injury lawyer to help you.

You could simply bypass all of the research and call Medical Negligence Assist today. Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Livingston area which means they could help you make your claim without delay.

Feel free to call us if, after reading our guide, you still have any questions or need advice about what your next steps should be.

Does My Clam Need To Be Made With A Local Solicitor?

Your first thought might be, “I should look for medical negligence solicitors in my area”, but this really could limit your options.

You don’t need to meet your solicitor face to face as communication is carried out over the phone or by email, therefore the location of your solicitor’s office doesn’t matter at all.

You should look to choose a solicitor based on the number of years’ experience they have and how often they deal with medical negligence claims, rather than where they’re based.

Do You Always Need A Medical Examination?

When you make a personal injury claim you’ll need to undergo a medical assessment to provide evidence of the extent of your injuries. To make this easier, we have a panel of doctors across the UK that we use to ensure you don’t need to travel far for your assessment.  Some that we use in the Livingston area include:

Sumeet Vohara
Edinburgh Osteopathic Surgery,
187 Dalkeith Road,
Edinburgh, EH16 5DS.

Mohammed Ahmed
Waterside House,
18 Hawthornbank Lane,
Edinburgh, EH4 3BH.

How Helpful Is It To Read Reviews Of A Solicitor Before Contacting Them?

As mentioned earlier, many people use reviews whenever buying new services or products these days. In some respects, reviews can be a helpful starting point and you can ascertain how happy previous clients were with the professionalism, the number of updates they received about their case and the amount of money awarded as compensation.

However, you’ll only get a true feel for a solicitor by giving them a call to discuss what they can do for you, how they’ll handle the cases and how much compensation they hope to achieve for you. Therefore, we’d always recommend you discuss your claim directly before choosing which solicitor to use.

Our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors are happy to discuss what they can do for you and provide examples of recent cases they’ve taken on to demonstrate their experience.

Examples Of Medical Negligence Cases In Scotland

Over the next few sections in this guide, we’re going to show when and why you might be able to claim medical negligence compensation in different scenarios. We can’t cover every example in this guide, so please don’t worry if you don’t see a case similar to yours, we could still help you claim.

GP Claims In Livingston

With such a vast array of medical knowledge, GPs can often work out what’s wrong with a patient, suggest a treatment plan or refer them on to a specialist all within the short 10-minute appointment period.

This is a great service but, in some cases, if a doctor fails to get it right, then the patient might be able to seek compensation for any suffering caused.

This could be because of a delay in receiving treatment because the GP diagnosed the problem as something else or it took multiple appointments before the doctor managed to correctly diagnose the problem.

Hospital Negligence In Livingston

Patients are sometimes required to claim for hospital negligence, against the NHS or a private hospital if something goes wrong with their treatment. This could be for treatment carried out as an outpatient, in emergency situations or while undergoing cosmetic treatment at a hospital.

If a member of hospital staff causes you to become ill, sustain an injury or for an existing condition to made worse, then you might be able to seek compensation against the hospital.

If you believe you’ve suffered because of hospital negligence, then please get in touch to discuss whether we could help you make a claim.

Negligence In An Operation/Surgery

Surgeons have to attempt risky procedures every day. Nearly all surgery includes an element of risk which the surgeon will explain prior to the procedure and you’ll usually be asked to sign a consent form.

Signing the form means that you have acknowledged the risks and that, doesn’t mean you couldn’t sue the surgeon or hospital because they cause you to suffer an injury due to a negligent act.

Examples of surgical negligence can include:

  • Suffering pain and requiring further treatment because items of surgical equipment were left inside you.
  • If you wake up and feel pain during surgery because of an anaesthetic procedural error.
  • When you require further treatment to rectify poor suturing or a medical clip or clamp is faulty and fails.

Livingston Birth Negligence

Any birth can have its complications and it’s probably fair to say that not many births are the same. This is why medical professionals such as midwives, nurses, and doctors undergo many years of specialist training and mentoring before becoming part of the maternity team.

In cases where a medical professional fails to use the correct procedures, fails to spot a problem occurring or reacts incorrectly to a problem they have spotted and that negligence causes harm to mother or baby, then compensation could be claimed for the suffering caused.

Some conditions caused by negligence during childbirth, such as Cerebral Palsy, can require lifelong support and care which is why you should ensure you have an expert negligence solicitor on your side to try and ensure you get the correct level of compensation.

Dentist/Dental Assistant Negligence

Having bad experience at the dentists can be very traumatic for many people, especially those with phobias. If a problem occurs while having a check-up or while undergoing a dental procedure, which was caused by negligence, then it could be possible to seek compensation for any injuries, pain or suffering caused.

Examples of dental negligence which might lead to a claim include:

  • Pain caused during treatment because an anesthetic was administered incorrectly.
  • Pain caused because of damage to healthy teeth, gums, or nerves during a procedure.
  • Failing to spot the signs of oral cancer

Care And Nursing Home Negligence

Many of us find it hard to place a loved one into a care home or nursing home. Although it should be the best thing for them, there is a worry that they won’t receive the best level of care or they won’t be as comfortable as they could be.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has provided care home managers with explicit advice and guidelines for the care of residents. If those procedures are not followed and your loved one becomes injured or ill, then it is possible that a successful claim for medical negligence could be made.

Examples include:

  • Bedsores and pressure sores because of a lack of regular movement.
  • Staff failing to follow the correct lifting techniques which has lead to a patient suffering unnecessary fractures.
  • Suffering caused by care home abuse.
  • Illnesses or adverse side effects caused by medication dispensing errors.

Delayed Or Misdiagnosed Cancer

The prognosis for cancer patients can improve dramatically if the condition is spotted early in many cases. An early diagnosis can mean a much less intrusive treatment plan and mean the chances of survival increase dramatically.

Therefore, if cancer is not diagnosed by a medical professional when it should or could have been, then a claim for compensation may be possible if the patient has suffered more than they would have done if their treatment had begun on time.

If you or a loved one have suffered because of delayed treatment for cancer, please contact us to discuss the possibility of making a personal injury claim for compensation.

Lawyers In Livingston – Claim Time Limits

As well as looking for solicitors for the Livingston area, you may be wondering how long you have to claim. The Limitation Act 1980 tells us that the time limit is typically 3 years from the date you were injured.

This means that you must begin a claim within this time period. However, there can be some exceptions. One example could be if your injury only became apparent at a later date. This is known as the date of knowledge and could be used as the first date of your 3-year time limit.

If the injured party is a child, then the time limit only begins from their 18th birthday. Before then, although a child cannot make their own claim, a litigation friend can be appointed to do so on their behalf at any time.

A litigation friend can also claim on behalf of an individual incapable of doing so due to a reduced mental capacity. The time limit would also be suspended in this instance. However, if the claimant recovered, it would begin from the recovery date. Should this never occur, then the time limit would remain frozen.

To find out if the lawyers for Livingston accidents on our panel could still help you claim, get in touch with our advisors today.

Hospitals In Livingston

Below, you will see some of the many hospitals that are located close to Livingston;

  • St John’s Hospital.
  • Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
  • Royal Infirmary Edinburgh.
  • Riccarton General Practice.
  • Western General Hospital.
  • Spire Murrayfield Hospital.
  • The Edinburgh Clinic.

Make A No Win No Fee Clinical Negligence Claim

Many people who’re considering taking medical negligence action worry about the cost of using a medical negligence lawyer to support them. This is why many offer a no win no fee service for claims they agree to take on.

Here’s what no win no fee means:

  • You do not have to pay your solicitor upfront.
  • There will be nothing to pay your solicitor if they fail to win compensation.
  • If they do win the case, they will take their success fee directly from your compensation, so you don’t have to find the funds to pay them yourself.

Using no win no fee services significantly reduces the financial risk from beginning a claim and makes the whole process a lot less stressful.

Talk To Us

If you’re ready to begin discussing your claim with us today, or you simply want to talk to one of our advisors for free, impartial advice then you can get in touch by calling 0800 652 3087.  Our phone lines are open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. If you’d rather, that we call you, then you can fill in this online form to begin your claim.

Helpful Links

Now that you’ve read this guide about choosing medical negligence solicitors in Livingston, we’ve added some further guides and resources below:

St John’s Hospital
Howden Road West,
Livingston,
West Lothian, EH54 6PP.
Web:www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/GoingToHospital/Locations/StJohnsHospital/Pages/default.aspx

Care Services – Information about care services offered by the local council in the West Lothian region.

Lothian NHS – Information about healthcare in Scotland and services provided by NHS Lothian to the approximately 800,000 local residents.

Hospital Negligence Claims – A guide that could help you understand claims against Livingston Hospital, Scotland.

Birth Injury Claim – This guide explains in more detail the types of injuries that you or your baby could sustain as a result of medical negligence.

Medical Negligence Claims Calculator –  This guide explains what amount of compensation could be made for different types of injury in medical negligence cases in Scotland.

Written by Brett.

Edited by Charlotte.