Whether you have been injured or your condition made worse at an NHS run facility or a private clinic you can still make a claim for compensation. For such you need to show medical negligence, i.e. the doctor, nurse, dentist or other health care professional has done something that most other people in their position would not have done. The fact that treatment has failed or an operation has gone wrong does not necessarily imply clinical negligence. Some operations come with risks as do some medications.
Despite the fact that medical negligence claims are notoriously harder to win as opposed to road accidents or accidents at work there are many legal firms that actually specialise in these types of litigation.
Compensation For Medical Negligence May Include
- Loss of past and future income
- Care for the past and care for the future
- Medical expenses and prescriptions
- Pain and suffering including psychological damage
- Reduced employment prospects
- Loss of amenities of life
- Legal expenses
Medical negligence compensation may include:
- General Damages is the compensation that is paid for the pain and suffering caused as a result of the injury and loss of physical ability or ongoing pain and discomfort if there is a continuing disability. This figure is calculated by considering previous awards of compensation made by the courts and after consideration of guidelines set out in a government publication used in assessing damages called ‘The Judicial Studies Guidelines.
- Special Damages represents the actual past losses and estimated future losses and expenses caused as a result of the injury and may include:
- Loss of past and future income
- Care for the past and for the future
- Gratuitous assistance
- Medical expenses for the past and for the future
- Loss of amenities of life
- Prescriptions
- Reduced employment prospects in the future
- Expenses in relation to the claim
- Interest may be added to any medical negligence compensation awarded for general and special damages.
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