Medical Negligence Claim Expectations

Medical negligence claims are often very complex and time consuming. They are also potentially extremely emotionally draining due to the nature of the incident and the consequences of any injury experienced as a result. Here at TLW Solicitors we have a specialist solicitor to assist and guide you through this process and to help explain what can be expected of a medical negligence claim. This is a guide only as each claim depends very much on the facts, but generally the same process of investigation takes place and our medical negligence solicitor will keep you fully updated of progress throughout.

Initial Enquiry

Our specialist medical negligence solicitors will take the details of the circumstances of your medical negligence claim and advise you further. It may be advisable to formally complain about the treatment you have received and we can assist with this if you have not already done so.

Funding your Claim/Costs

Clinical negligence claims are generally very expensive and heavily reliant on medical expert opinion and lengthy reviews of appropriate documents. The most appropriate type of funding that may be available to investigate a clinical negligence claim include will be discussed with you in detail with our solicitor.

Initial Investigations

In order to start the claim our solicitor will start by requesting all your relevant medical records and GP records. This process can take several months but is an essential step to review the medical aspects of the claim and identify the speciality of the expert required to report.

Obtaining Expert Opinion

It is then usual for the medical negligence solicitor to instruct the most appropriate independent expert to prepare a report on the circumstances of the claim. The type of expert depends on the type of claim, and may require more than one expert report. The standard of care is measured like for like, so if the claim relates to surgery, then a surgeon will need to be instructed to report who has a similar level of knowledge and experience as the treating clinician. It may also be necessary to have you examined by the expert depending on the extent of your injuries and on-going symptoms experienced. This can be discussed with you in more detail as the claim progresses.

Letter of Claim

If the medical expert(s) provide a report that is supportive of your claim, then we notify the Defendant of your claim formally in writing. This is in the form of a Letter of Claim. It outlines the facts, the allegations of medical negligence, and the likely extent of the damages that are sought. The Defendant then has 4 months to respond to the allegations. The response can be an admission of liability, a partial admission or a denial. Depending on the response will determine the future of the claim.

Court Proceedings

The vast majority of claims never need to go to Court and settle beforehand. If the claim is to proceed to Trial, a full explanation of what to expect can be given by our solicitor so that you are fully prepared.

If Court Proceedings are required to be issued, then formal documents need to be prepared to serve on the Defendant and to be filed at Court. It is likely that a Barrister will be instructed at this stage to prepare a statement of the case, known as Particulars of Claim. We also have to prepare a Schedule of Loss and a medical report outlining your current condition and future prognosis.

Once the Court process has commenced, there are set procedural steps that have to be performed that are in accordance to a timetable set by the Court.