• Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Policy
  • Guest Post
  • Archive

One Cent At A Time

A Personal finance blog to get rich

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Beautiful Life
  • Becoming Rich
  • Beginners Guide
  • Extra Income
  • Productivity
  • Saving Money

Step by Step Guide to Make a Medical Negligence Claim

May 2, 2013 6 Comments

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Pursuing any claim through court is difficult – even more so when you’re trying to pursue a medical negligence claim, especially if you are suffering from an illness or trying to come to terms with an injury. Every person has the right to make a complaint if the care that they received at the hands of a medical professional or institute was sub-standard, and every person has the right to make a claim for medical negligence if that sub-standard care directly caused an illness or injury.

Medical negligence claim

Making a claim for compensation can be complicated and so it’s important that you speak to a medical lawyer to guide you through the whole process. I know how tough it can be to make a claim and the process can be particularly tricky if you’ve never experienced it before. I wanted to put together a step by step guide to help people just like me make a claim, without getting confused by all the medical jargon.

Do You Actually Have a Claim?

First things first, you need to work out whether or not you actually have a claim. For a claim to be successful, you and your lawyer have to be able to prove that the illness or injury that you are suffering from was directly caused by the negligence of the medical professional or institute.

Once you’ve proven that the injury or illness was directly caused by the negligence of someone else, you have to prove that the injury or illness would not have otherwise occurred without the intervention of the medical professional or institute.

Generally, if you cannot prove that you would not have eventually gone on to suffer from that illness in the future, you will not be able to make a claim.

 

Talk to Your Doctor

Firstly, it’s important that you discuss your concerns with your doctor, or with the person that you believe is responsible for your illness or injuries. If you want to make an informal complaint, and if you’re not seriously injured, write a letter to the health care provider and await their response.

You should get a response in writing within a month, and in some cases, you’ll get an apology. It’s important to remember, however, that an apology does not mean that you automatically have a claim to make. An apology is not an admission of negligence; it is merely an apology for the experience that you might be going through.

Once you’ve spoken to your healthcare provider, you can then go on to make a formal complaint, if desired. A formal complaint differs depending on the medical professional you are making a complaint against, so the first step is to speak to their manager and then inquire as to who you can make a formal complaint to.

Usually, you’d make a formal complaint to the hospital trust or to a dedicated complaints manager. Again, an apology as a result of a formal complaint does not necessarily mean that you have a claim for medical negligence. Formal complaints must be made within 13 weeks of the incident.

 

Making the Claim

When you actually start the formal claims process and instruct a lawyer to make the claim on your behalf, the first thing they’ll want to know is your story.

Have everything clear in your mind, and write down the story from start to finish, beginning with your negligent treatment and ending with the illness or injury you’re suffering from as a result of that treatment and how that illness is impacting on your life. Include as much detail as possible, such as dates, times and exact injuries or symptoms.

The next step is to access your medical records. Everyone has the right to request their medical records, and so you can go to your GP or family doctor and ask them for a copy of your medical records. Your lawyer can also access these records on your behalf.

These records are needed so that your lawyer can take a look at your injuries or your illness and at the incident that may have caused that illness, to decide whether or not they can pursue a claim on your behalf. Your lawyer will use your story, along with your medical records to make their decision.

If they don’t think that a claim would be successful, they will usually turn down your case and explain why they don’t think you have a successful claim. You have three years from the date of the injury or the knowledge of the injury to start the claims process.

Making the Claim

Once the lawyer has decided that you have a successful claim, they will then instruct a medical expert to review your case. This medical expert should be an expert in the type of treatment that you received, and they will be able to give an unbiased opinion as to whether or not the treatment that you received was negligent, and whether or not that negligence directly caused your illness.

The expert should then make judgement as to how long they think it will take you to recover and what they think you’ll need in terms of treatment to get on the road to recovery.

Once witness statements have been gathered from both sides, including you, the individual or institute that you’re claiming against and any other individual that may be involved, such as your partner or your doctor’s manager, your lawyers will then send a Letter of Claim to the individual that you’re claiming against.

This letter will contain all of the allegations that you’re making, and the defendant – the individual or institute that you are making the claim against, will then have three months to respond. The response may involve a wish to settle out of court, or your lawyers may be able to negotiate with the defendant to settle out of court – and this is the most common outcome.

If the defendant denies the claims that you are making or is unwilling to negotiate, your case may then go to court. Once the case goes to court, your lawyer will be with you every step of the way to explain the process. Claims in court can be scary, but having an experienced medical negligence lawyer at your side will make the whole process a little easier.

This was a guest post by Richard Rhodes. I have no experience of claiming a medical negligence, nor I am aware of the procedure. Strongly advice my readers to consult lawyers before deciding on anything like this nature.

LIKE THIS POST?
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join our community of 8000+ subscribers to increase your net worth and build wealth
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
The tool that changed the way I manage my personal finance - Personal Capital, The Best Free Personal Finance Tool

Want to start a WordPress blog now? The onecentatatime.com blog is hosted by Siteground Web Hosting. For only $3.95 a month, Siteground can help you set up and host your website/blog quickly and easily.

About the Blogger Hi I am SB, a personal finance enthusiast with a career in software development. I am an immigrant to the USA since 2005, after being born and brought up in India. This 40 something technocrat lives and breathes personal finance whenever he gets time from the day job, job as a husband and a dad

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, if you make a purchase following the links, I may earn a commission. Read affiliate disclosure here
« All About Car Tires and How it Relates to your Money
Few Simple Everyday Techniques to Protect yourself from Germs »

Comments

  1. reader says

    May 5, 2013 at 6:23 PM

    Are you using a ghostwriter or an editor for some of these posts? They don’t sound like you at all. Other posts, like the blog stats one, sound just like the SB I have always enjoyed.

    Reply
    • SB says

      May 5, 2013 at 7:02 PM

      Yeah this was a promotional guest post.

      Reply
      • reader says

        May 8, 2013 at 7:03 AM

        But why isn’t it credited to anyone else? I am sure I am not the only one who prefers to know when it is you writing versus a guest post.

        Reply
        • SB says

          May 12, 2013 at 10:05 PM

          Thanks for pointing it out. I did make the correction!

          Reply
  2. Bonallack and Bishop says

    May 19, 2014 at 8:03 AM

    Very informative post – hopefully people who read this will know exactly what to do if they need to make a medical negligence claim either now or in the future.

    Reply
  3. Richard Johnson says

    March 10, 2015 at 6:43 AM

    Hi, I just want to say thank you for this great guide as this guide explained everything we need to start with a medical negligence claim. A very nice post.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Create your own blog in 20 minutes and $20

Personal Capital, a free tool to change your financial health today

I use and suggest Upstart, for your personal loan need

CreditKarma, a free tool to check your credit scorey

I use Coinbase, for my crypto investments

101 Cents at a Time

101 Ways to Earn Extra Money on the Side
201 Frugal and Perfect Birthday Gifts
101 Ways to Save Money Everyday
101 Ways to be Better and Successful at Work
101 Ways to Save Environment and Energy
101 Frugal and Romantic Anniversary Ideas
101 Low-Cost Men's Fashion Ideas
101 Personal Finance Tips
101 Ways to Reuse Household Stuff
101 Things to Do, When Nothing to Do
101 College Graduation Gift Ideas
100 Tips for Ecommerce Startup
101 Ways to Enjoy Indoor During Winter
101 Ways to Beat Procrastination

Popular Posts

Quick Cash - How to make $100 legally, in a day
Living well on less than $15,000 a Year
Top survey sites for side income
What to do when auto repair goes wrong
Where should I invest my money now?
20 Ways to be productive and happy at work
51 Ways to get out of debt
Be a better person in 15 days, 15 ways
Income ideas for retirees and senior citizens
51 side jobs for college students
Urgently need a large amount of money?
Should I buy or should I rent?
Best Personal loan providers
25 Ways to save environment
25 DIY car repairs to save money
How to decorate office cubicle
How to show your wife you care
50 Financial Rules for Success
51 Frugal weekend family activity ideas
Become Rich By Saving 1 Hour Of Daily Wage
How much do I need to save for retirement?
How to negotiate your salary

Follow us on FaceBook

About Author

SB

Blogger by choice and IT manager by profession. Finance is my passion and gardening is my greatest satisfaction. Born in India, settled in US, Husband and a father. I created this blog in 2011 with a vision to help others. Thanks for your patronage. More info on my "about" page.

View all posts


Subscribe

Join our community of 5000+ subscribers to increase net worth and build wealth

Advertisements

Personal Stories

How I got a new HP computer replaced
Was COVID circulating in USA in fall of 2019?
How my credit score went up 800+
Why I didn’t invest in Bitcoins
How I controlled impulses to buy things
Why this blog is named One Cent at a Time

Subscribe via Email

Site Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this web site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Read full Affiliate disclosure


One Cent at a Time is published by SB. The opinions expressed herein by him are his own and not those of his employer or anyone else. All content on One Cent at a Time is for entertainment purposes only. By reading this blog, you agree that SB and/or One Cent at a Time is not responsible for any actions taken after reading this blog. For the full disclaimer, click here .

Major Media Mention

One Cent at a Time Media Appearances

Copyright © 2023 One Cent At A Time · Designed by Nuts and Bolts Media