AIBU to consider legal action after admitted hospital negligence?

On the contrary. When my mum died due to admitted mistakes by the hospital, I made several enquiries to local and national solicitors all of whom called me back and did indeed give me the same advice as @PinotPony - medical negligence cases can attract HUGE sums which no win/no fee solicitors can earn a substantial chunk of, so it IS in their best interests to take the time to ask pertinent questions about each case. As @PinotPony says though, unless pp was a financial beneficiary in England you cannot sue the NHS for anything above the statutory figure which frankly is not worth the upset. There is not a magical sum of money due to op at all, but it would definitely be worth making some enquiries outside Mumsnet to have this confirmed.

This does happen, I received such a letter after an investigation into the near catastrophic birth of my daughter.

Op, I chose not to pursue things further, mainly because these things take years and I didn't want it hanging over me or having to dredge over it many times in a legal setting. I wanted to move forward with my life. However, this was a scenario where both me and baby were ultimately physically okay (although I carry significant mental scars). I can understand someone making a different decision but I would be very cautious about what you are taking on, especially unsupported.

As a family we sued the NHS for gross negligence. We used a solicitor (think Irwin Mitchell). It settled out of court. It was clear cut. I understand the emotional challenges and stigma surrounding suing the NHS. We got some satisfaction that they admitted negligence and was ‘punished’ by paying out.

Changes did happen.

The money was used to support the remaining spouse who had endured the loss and trauma. They had been widowed relatively young and needlessly. It was no where near a life changing amount but allowed for a some joy and better care in the later years.

You could always donate it to charity.

As well as working with a lawyer (which you should), maybe let a respected health journalist know about the case so that you can spearhead a push for systemic change. You need to know exactly what change you’re asking for before you do this though.

Not daft…

Limitation (the date by which you have to issue court proceedings) typically expires 3 years after the date of death. The inquest process can take years depending on the complexity of the issues and the current Coroner’s court backlog.

if limitation is approaching, you or your solicitor can seek to agree an extension of time in writing with the defendant Trust or NHS Resolution (the NHS insurer).

It’s sensible to await the outcome of the inquest before pursuing a civil claim. Although the coroner cannot apportion civil or criminal liability, they can make findings of fact which often assist with a claim for damages.

@BillyNotQuiteNoMates

The best thing to do at this juncture, OP, is to arrange to see a solicitor in person, so that he/she can assess the situation and advise you accordingly.

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

How do you think we screen new enquiries to determine which cases we are going to investigate? There’s always an initial call with the prospective client to take full details about what has happened. We may decide to proceed under a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee) based on the information in that call or we may obtain and review the medical records first before making a decision. Alternatively, we may come to the view that the claim doesn’t have reasonable prospects of success and tell the caller we are unable to assist them.

It’s very rare for personal injury claims to be funded privately by the client paying the legal fees themselves. And legal aid is no longer available for most types of claim.

I’m guessing you’re not a medical negligence solicitor?

For me, I don't think its ever appropriate to sue the NHS unless the money is required to support the life of the patient, (e.g if negligence caused a disability which prevented them from working).

Suing the NHS is suing the tax payers. Every penny that comes to you is tax payers' money (and it obviously isn't tax payers' fault) and is also diverting money that could be used for other people's care. I would push for written information on what happened, why it happened and what is now in place to ensure it doesn't happen again but suing hard working tax payers wouldn't sit comfortably with me.

Coroners are expressly forbidden by statute from making a finding of criminal or civil liability, including negligence. Inquests are a fact-finding process to determine how someone died, they are not concerned with questions of blame. They will want to understand any concerns the family have and will consider requests that you make for relevant documents / witnesses. A Coroners findings and conclusions may refer to issues in care but they have to be careful to do so in a neutral way (except in certain circumstances which are highly unlikely to apply here). An inquest may therefore help bereaved families find out more about how their loved one died which may inform a civil claim in due course - but it has a different purpose.

Coroners can also make ‘preventing future death’ reports to highlight any ongoing risks and ask organisations to report back about whether they can do anything to mitigate the risks further - but they cannot force organisations to take any particular steps. If the organisation has carried out a robust internal investigation and implemented the learning from that - that is usually sufficient assurance for the Coroner.

In our Trust we learn from the investigation- we apologise, we invite the patient or their relative to be part of the investigation process, to ask the questions they want to and to proof read the investigation draft. We then meet with people after the event (if they want to) to show them the changes we have made. Claims are mostly handled by Trust solicitors or NHS Resolutions, any learning identified for us normally corresponds with what we have found anyway. So it depends what outcome you want…. and trusts do this differently. My GF died of negligence we choose not to sue as the actions taken by the trust were the right actions - also Mum felt she didn’t want to take money from the NHS, that was entirely the eight decision for her.

Hi @BillyNotQuiteNoMates I’ve been in your position - in my case I lost a parent due to medical negligence. It was fucking horrendous, made worse as I’m treated at the same hospital. Different illness & different teams, but the difference in standard of care is so painful to witness, & my teams had a great relationship with my parent as they were my NOK, so took an active role when things were not looking good for me. Anyhow, this made the question of suing more difficult, but my parent was adamant they wanted the negligence to be acknowledged, apologised for & compensation paid (if appropriate). This was obviously before they died. I got all three - apology, admittance of negligence & financial compensation (I used some of this to pursue an activity my parent loved). It can’t change the errors made & the impact it had on our family, but hopefully other families will have been spared our pain. Also, remember the NHS has insurance to cover these sad cases. I am sorry for your loss 💐

This is sound advice

OP also says the inquest hasn’t actually been concluded yet? Is that right OP

I doubt it will be an easy process and if you can face it, it’s be the right thing to do morally. For your relative’s and for other’s sake.

A close friend of mine and her family were in this position many years ago.

They did not pursue a claim, their logic being that money the NHS would spend on legal representation and potentially a payout would be better utilised improving their services.

You say other family members are against pursuing it, and you don't want money, so this seems like a sensible argument to me.

My friend, who was a teenager at the time, went on to become a medical scientist and has spent her career working in the NHS.

I’m 6 years into an nhs death claim, it’s been really hard to read where mistakes had been made and getting experts to put it into writing. I’ve plans (if and when I get some money) to pay back the month my DH was in the Hospice, pay some back to the school I worked at who kept me on full pay for 18 months. The rest will go into trust for DS.

I disagree that bringing a claim for clinical negligence is the way to ensure lessons are learned, that should take place via the patient safety investigation and to some extent the inquest which should take place if the death was unnatural. You should have been involved in the investigation and should be able to request assurance that any recommendations made by the investigation have been implemented. If that has not happen you should be able to contact the patient safety team or raise a complaint via PALS.

If your loved one’s death was caused or contributed to by clinical negligence then you may be able to bring a civil claim for the following:

1. The estate of the deceased can claim for their pain and suffering prior to death and funeral expenses.
2. Certain individuals may be entitled to a statutory bereavement award depending on their relationship to the deceased.
3. Certain individuals may be able to claim for a loss of dependency if they were financially or otherwise dependent on the deceased.

You can’t bring a claim if you are the ‘next of kin’ - that is not a legally defined concept.