If you’ve suffered any form of medical negligence and are looking for a solicitor to help you make a claim, then this guide could be really helpful. Choosing the right personal injury lawyer can have a large impact on the amount of compensation you receive if you win the case. If you’re looking for medical negligence solicitors in Weston-Super-Mare, then this guide will explain why the solicitor’s location isn’t really important.
Our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Weston-Super-Mare area so could be the right choice to help you with your claim. If you’d like to discuss your case with us today, please call our team on 0800 652 3087 to begin the claim.
If you want more information about choosing a medical lawyer first, then carry on reading and this guide will provide all the information you need to know.
Choose A Section
- How To Find A Medical Claims Solicitor To Conduct Your Case
- Does My Medical Lawyer Or Solicitor Need To Be Based In My Area?
- Assessments Of Injuries Could Be Carried Out By Our Panel Of Doctors In Somerset
- Reading Reviews Could Help You Choose A Medical Claim Solicitor
- What Types Of Medical Negligence Claims Could You Make?
- What Is Dental Negligence?
- What Is Surgical Negligence?
- What Is Birth Or Natal Care Negligence?
- What Is Hospital Negligence?
- What Is Care Home Or Nursing Home Negligence?
- What Is Cancer Misdiagnosis?
- What Is GP Negligence
- Data Illustrating Rates Of Claims Against Western Area NHS Trust
- No Win No Fee Claims For Medical Negligence In Weston Super Mare
- Hospitals In The Weston Area
- How Do I Start My Claim?
- Helpful Links
How To Find A Medical Claims Solicitor To Conduct Your Case
“What is medical negligence?”, is a good question we’re often asked. Without knowing the answer to this, you probably won’t know if you could claim or not.
In short, medical negligence is where you become ill, suffer an injury or your existing condition becomes worse, because of substandard care provided by a medical professional. It’s not the easiest claim to prove in some cases, which is why an expert medical negligence lawyer should be used to help you claim.
In this guide we’ll provide information on what you can do to help choose the right solicitor to help you including asking friends for recommendations and reading medical negligence solicitors reviews.
We’ll also provide advice about what to look for when choosing a solicitor. As an example, our panel of expert medical negligence solicitors have experience in many types of medical negligence cases and could’ve covered very similar cases to yours, which can be a great help.
When you’re ready to begin a claim, you should contact us as soon as possible because there is a medical negligence claims time limit of 3 years. This starts from the day of your injuries occurring or from the date you found out about them. There are exceptions please call our team for more information. Even though 3 years seems like a long time, a medical negligence solicitor will need to collate some complex evidence, including medical assessments and records, which can take time. Therefore, give them as long as possible to ensure a full and proper claim can be submitted.
Does My Medical Lawyer Or Solicitor Need To Be Based In My Area?
We often hear statements like, “Shouldn’t I use medical negligence solicitors in my area?”, but we say that it’s much better to choose your solicitor based on their specialist skills and their recent cases rather than their locality.
To ensure you don’t need to travel too far as part of your claim, we have a panel of medical specialists around the UK, including in Weston-Super-Mare, who will undertake any medical assessment which is required as part of your claim. You’ll see some of the local specialists in the next section.
Any correspondence between a client and solicitor will mainly be done over email or the phone, therefore you could consider contacting us and using one our panel of medical negligence solicitors who can cover the Weston-Super-Mare area as they are all specialists in negligence claims and offer a no win no fee service for all claims they handle.
Assessments Of Injuries Could Be Carried Out By Our Panel Of Doctors In Somerset
As we promised in the previous section, here are some of the medical specialists we use in the Weston-Super-Mare region to undertake medical assessments:
Michael Pimm
87 New Bristol Road,
Worle,
Weston-Super-Mare, BS22 6AJ.
Anna Ross,
Cowan House,
21 Ellenborough Park North,
Weston-Super-Mare, BS23 1XQ.
Ramangowd Ganadinni
Weston Chiropractic Clinic,
Weston Road,
Bath, BA1 2XT.
Reading Reviews Could Help You Choose A Medical Claim Solicitor
You might find reading solicitor reviews helpful to begin your search. They offer a good insight into customer satisfaction and might identify whether the clients were satisfied with the compensation they received.
Once you’ve read some reviews, we believe the best thing to do is to speak with the solicitor and their staff directly. It’s probably the best way to find out how they can help you with your claim.
What Types Of Medical Negligence Claims Could You Make?
The next sections of this guide are devoted to covering the types of negligent acts that might mean a medical negligence solicitor could begin a personal injury claim on your behalf. If you can’t see an example similar to your own experience, please call our team for advice on whether you could claim or not.
What Is Dental Negligence?
Dental negligence may occur if the standard of treatment you are receiving is not meeting the required platform, if complacency is present negligence may occur which could lead to a patient being injured. Below we have included some examples of possible dental negligence which could take place if dental professionals allow their standards to slip.
Some examples include:
- If you undergo dental surgery which was not required.
- If healthy teeth are damaged during treatment.
- If you suffer pain because of an anaesthetic error.
- Extraction of wrong tooth.
If a dentist through negligent treatment has caused you to suffer unnecessarily and caused an avoidable injury the right to make a dental negligence claim may exist.
What Is Surgical Negligence?
Any form of surgery can be worrying and risky. A surgeon will usually tell you of the risks prior to the procedure happening and ask you to sign a consent form. In order to be able to pursue a medical negligence claim for a surgical injury your clinical negligence solicitor may want to prove that another surgeon of the same capabilities would have not caused the same injury given the circumstances.
Some surgical errors or mistakes could include the following examples:
- Surgical instruments are retained within the surgery site.
- Healthy organs are perforated.
- When you suffer pain because of the wrong dose of anaesthetic being applied.
What Is Birth Or Natal Care Negligence?
If a mother or baby is negligently injured during pregnancy, labour or even post-birth due to substandard care or negligent treatment by medical staff that owe them a duty of care grounds for a medical negligence may exist. All midwives, doctors and nurses on a maternity ward are trained to follow recommended procedures during childbirth.
If they deviate from those procedures because of a lapse in concentration, tiredness, staff shortages or for any other reason a mother or baby could suffer harm.
So, if you or your baby suffered any form of injury during childbirth which was caused by a negligent act, please contact our team for advice on whether you can claim or not.
What Is Hospital Negligence?
Hospital negligence could be present in the services which are provided by a hospital if standards are not at the expected level. Day in day out hospitals never close and are always working to help those that are most in need. When we are seriously injured we visit A and E, if we need further tests these are usually conducted at a hospital, if we need physiotherapy we attend a hospital, if we need treatment as an out patient we have this done at a hospital. Without them where would we receive the medical help that they provide? But if such services are not provided how they should be and negligent treatment is administrated then patients may suffer more than they need too.
Examples of potential hospital negligence cases could include:
- If infection control procedures fail and you sustain bugs like MRSA causing more serious suffering.
- Surgical errors that could have been avoided which cause harm.
- If you’re prescribed the incorrect medication which means you suffer side-effects, or your existing condition becomes worse.
- And if your condition is diagnosed late or misdiagnosed meaning you suffer because of a lack of treatment.
What Is Care Home Or Nursing Home Negligence?
Care homes are there to ensure the most vulnerable patients receive a good standard of care and they receive support where needed. There are a whole array of safety and procedural guidelines for staff to follow to protect patients. If the staff fail to follow these guidelines though, and the patient becomes ill or injured, then a claim could be possible.
Some examples of negligence in a care home could include:
- Any form of suffering caused by care home abuse.
- Injuries caused because a patient was moved but using incorrect lifting procedures due to not staff training.
- If the patient has suffered bed sores or pressure sores because they’ve not been moved regularly.
What Is Cancer Misdiagnosis?
It is really important that any cancer symptoms are picked up by doctors so that an early cancer diagnosis is possible if the patient is suffering from the illness. If cancer is picked up in its early stages it is more treatable. If a patient who has cancer is misdiagnosed with a different condition or the symptoms are not picked up and investigated when presented it can mean the condition goes undiagnosed which means it is left untreated. If cancer is left untreated it has the potential to spread and the patients health may deteriorate.
If you or a loved one has suffered necessarily because of cancer misdiagnosis then call our team as they maybe able to answer questions that you need answering.
What Is GP Negligence
If a GP when faced with symptoms fails to diagnose a condition or misdiagnoses the condition for something else, firstly your current condition could worsen as it is being left untreated and secondly if you are given medication for the wrong condition which has been diagnosed then that could have an effect up on your health. Depending on what was misdiagnosed would largely depend on how a patient may suffer.
If you have any questions at all regrading GP negligence, what makes a patient eligible and who would be liable please do not hesitate to contact our advisors the number is at the bottom of the page.
Data Illustrating Rates Of Claims Against Western Area NHS Trust
The table below shows compensation payments made by the Weston Area NHS Trust in the period of 2017-18. It doesn’t include any figures from private operators.
Healthcare Provider | Claims in 2017/2018 | Number of Incidents 2017/2018 | Damages Payments |
---|---|---|---|
Weston Area NHS Trust | 16 | * | £770,773 |
Source: Trust an Authority Claims
No Win No Fee Claims For Medical Negligence In Weston Super Mare
No win no fee is a good option for making a claim as legal aid for medical negligence claims hasn’t been available since 2013. It means:
- You don’t pay the solicitor up front.
- They aren’t paid anything whatsoever if they fail to achieve a compensation payment.
- If they win, you don’t pay them out of your own pocket as their success fees are deducted straight from the compensation.
Success fees are used to pay the solicitor for their work and are limited, by law, to 25% of the compensation.
Hospitals In The Weston Area
As our panel of medical negligence solicitors can cover the Weston-Super-Mare area, we’ve included a list of the hospitals in and around the area:
- Weston General Hospital.
- Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke.
- Burnham-on-Sea War Memorial Hospital.
- Bridgwater Hospital.
If you’ve suffered any form of negligent care by the NHS or a private health care provider at any of these hospitals, please get in touch to discuss your case.
How Do I Start My Claim?
If you’re ready to discuss your claim with us today, you can speak with one of our specialist advisors on 0800 652 3087 or you could fill in this online form and let us get back to you.
Helpful Links
To provide further information, we’ve linked to some useful guides below:
Weston Area Health NHS Trust – The website of the NHS trust covering Weston-Super-Mare.
Grange Rd, Weston-super-Mare BS23 4TQ.
Weston General Hospital Inspection Report – This report is the latest from the Care Quality Commission.
NHS England – A guide which covers what services the NHS in England provide.
Dental Negligence Claims – This guide provides a more detailed look at what type of dental negligence claims can be made.
Edited by Melis.