Medical negligence

[Ste1115]

Has anyone ever had a successful medical negligence claim? My paperwork is with the expert awaiting final reports before court im just wondering what the process is

@typicalvalues wow nice generalisation there

[quote 14down]@typicalvalues wow nice generalisation there [/quote]
Much experience.

And this is why I can’t wait for true and complete privatisation of the NHS

@morninglive please can you private message me

Currently claiming against the nhs. They left my child with lifelong pain and uncertain effects on her work options/earning capacity so establishing the real losses is tricky and i have been warned will take some time.

The hysterical comments about ‘destroying lives’ are unhelpful and, in my experience, totally misguided.

I’ve defended several medical professionals against negligence claims. In all but one there was a clear case of negligence, and we agreed to settle out of court. In the exception, the other party dropped the action when they saw our expert report.

In every single case I would describe the medical professional involved as a decent, competent person who made a mistake. HCPs are humans too. Mistakes happen. And every single one of them took a sensible and level-headed approach to being sued. They are all insured so it’s not their own money on the line, and all HCPs tend to accept that now and then you may face the prospect of being sued. They were sanguine about it. None of them had their lives ‘destroyed’, and many were actually happy that settlement was reached and some restitution done.

The NHS is a wonderful thing and we owe a lot of gratitude to the HCPs working in it. But that doesn’t mean we have to put up and shut up when mistakes are made. Medical negligence can have life changing consequences for the affected individuals, and it’s wrong to suggest they simply have to live with those consequences to protect the person who was negligent. Insurance for HCPs exists specifically to enable restitution to be done. It is not immoral to seek compensation for an injury or illness caused by the negligent acts of another person.

My case was unusual in that we did go to court. It was very stressful indeed and took about 6 years in total.

@Ste1115 if your expert has reached the conclusions you describe it’s unlikely hey will radically change their opinion, they are paid to have a firm opinion on which you argue your case. I had a series of expert witnesses in different areas and none changed their minds.

Some posters on this thread seem a bit unclear on what the process of a law suit is: it’s a means to recover financial loss and compensation. So unfortunately a few days of feeling rotten in hospital followed by a full recovery doesn’t amount to a financial loss whereas a full apology might go a long way but that’s not what legal representation is for.

Anyway, long story short it’s very slow and painful but can be worthwhile if the claim is substantial. Compensation for pain and suffering is minuscule. You can Google it but it’s derisory.

@MatildaTheCat thank you. Im 13 months in so far. I have found a number of cases similar to mine with the same claim amount.

@LizzieBirmingham. In our case, the person involved seemed a very good and competent HCP. It was just that it was late in the evening, they were exceptionally busy, and she was just trying to buy themselves a little time. Unfortunately a bit of cognitive dissonance kicked in and the advice given has had a devastating and lasting affect on my family. As a HCP myself, I know the pressures that can come into play in certain circumstances. She knew very quickly the mistake she made and I think she felt guilty long before we decided to sue. Anyway, they don’t pay personally, the hospital Trust (which pays into an insurance scheme) pays.

I think it's useful and healthy to draw a distinction between the majority of HCPs in this situation who have made a one off error and the minority of genuine bad apples. In our case we've uncovered evidence that suggests either malign intent or lack of intellectual capacity on the part of a consultant. Their behaviour points towards what the GMC themselves have identified as a "Diva" personality and an almost psychopathic indifference towards the consequences of their incompetence. My intention is to draw attention to this person to limit their ability to harm other people in future; if there was a reliable way of doing this without legal recourse then I'd prefer that. Sadly there really isn't, and I'm hoping this person's inadequacies can be aired sub rosa, away from the cover up bullshit of the NHS and its allies.

@Luke423 I’m a bit unclear about your desired outcome from a law suit? You mention the GMC but that is entirely separate from a legal case. In my situation I was advised to wait to file a complaint with the GMC until legal proceedings were completed. That meant I was very close to the five year window before I made that complaint.

They were forced to take my complaint seriously since it had been upheld by a high court judge but ultimately they did nothing beyond an investigation and ‘He says he doesn’t do that anymore.’ I know it upset and annoyed him and I suspect he had exactly the type of personality you mention.

So a legal case doesn’t impact on a HCP in any way professionally unless their workplace sanctions them. It’s an inconvenience which is covered by their insurance. If they have a lot of legal claims then the insurers won’t be happy. NB in my case it was private healthcare not NHS.

[quote MatildaTheCat]@Luke423 I’m a bit unclear about your desired outcome from a law suit? You mention the GMC but that is entirely separate from a legal case. In my situation I was advised to wait to file a complaint with the GMC until legal proceedings were completed. That meant I was very close to the five year window before I made that complaint.

They were forced to take my complaint seriously since it had been upheld by a high court judge but ultimately they did nothing beyond an investigation and ‘He says he doesn’t do that anymore.’ I know it upset and annoyed him and I suspect he had exactly the type of personality you mention.

So a legal case doesn’t impact on a HCP in any way professionally unless their workplace sanctions them. It’s an inconvenience which is covered by their insurance. If they have a lot of legal claims then the insurers won’t be happy. NB in my case it was private healthcare not NHS.[/quote]
Theres a certain financial element to it but I think you've nailed it with your remark about "upset and annoyed". If I achieve nothing else then that'll do. Otherwise I'm just yet another dissatisfied patient of a narcissistic turd who thinks that they can do what they want without consequence.

Bad publicity from a successful lawsuit will hopefully annoy Trust management to do something about this individual; I'm sure as hell nothing else will.

I was told that the GMC is unlikely to act except in the most extreme (obvious) cases by both the Charity support worker that supported me & the solicitor - as pp said suing the individual will atthe very least make sure they think about their actions so hopefully won't do it again & give them a few sleepless nights
We had years worth of sleepless nights & the patient had years worth of unnecessary discomfort, pain & umpteen harsh invasive treatments & surgery - just because he was lax about process & was more concerned about timetabling in maximum surgeries & probably getting to his private ones
& yes after all this time I am bitter about it & eternally grateful to the excellent NHS people who figured out what had happened & had the horrible job of telling us what had happened & trying to rectify it

@Luke423 my sympathy & a mn hug

[quote mumwon]@Luke423 my sympathy & a mn hug[/quote]
@mumwon Thanks, same to you.

The problem is that non medical people with little understanding of the science believe that medicine is black or white. It isn't.

Medics have gained knowledge and experience that guides them towards a diagnosis and course of treatment. They are guided by policies and guidelines but sometimes, they still get it wrong in retrospective.

Of course there are still cases of gross negligence with errors that should never have happened and would never have under the care of other medics, and grave consequences, but very often, errors are part of the inevitable due to uncertainties.

Sadly, every week, people go to their GP with some vague ailments Andare turn away when these were the first signs of cancer that could have been treated if picked up at that stage.

On the other hand, if anyone going to their GP with aches and aimants were sent for invasive tests, the NHS would be overwhelmed and bankrupt.

@dontdisturbmenow
in the case I have disgusted - the surgeon not only meant several more invasive procedure including major surgery & horrendous unnecessary side effects - it actually cost the NHS far more in the long term
& it also meant that other clinicians in another hospital had to apologise to us when they explained what happened.
Believe me it was completely avoidable & caused by the surgeon not checking on the tests/scans he had ordered prior to the operation, in this case there definitely wasn't an alternative view & so we were told

discussed not disgusted -although that might be Freudian slip

The NHS is amazing but a doctor nearly killed my mum by not sewing up her brain surgery wound properly. Left it leaking spinal fluid for a week and she developed severe post operative sepsis. Mum was sent home post op, she was vomiting constantly but we were told it was a reaction to the anaesthesia. We knew something was wrong when he dressing became saturated with clear fluid. It was trickling down her neck. Took her to a walk in to get her looked at (on the advice of 999) and when they took the dressing off it was necrotic, so she had to go in again for surgery to get the dead skin removed, and it was only then that another doc looked at it did they see the piss poor suturing job the other surgeon had done. They took photos and gave them to us, it was that poor.

The original surgeon came to see her while she recovered from the second op, and we blew up at him. He denied to our faces that he had done anything wrong and tried to blame it on my mum's arthritis, but having been given the photos of the stitching job he'd done, we knew otherwise. Even when she showed them to him he denied it and tried to blame his assistant. I felt so bad for my mum. She was having constant lumbar punctures, they kept forgetting to give her pain and anti sickness relief. She was crying silently whenever I visited her, she was in that much pain and thinking about it now makes me feel sick with sadness. She made a claim and won, and the surgeon got removed from that hospital because of it.

As I say, I love the NHS, but there aren't half some jokers there just like any other workplace.

The uncertainty in our case was because the consultant made a bigoted judgement based on little knowledge and no evidence. They then mounted an aggressive defence of their position that had potentially life wrecking consequences for us. We've uncovered evidence that they spent months spreading misinformation and in some cases outright lies to defend their position and present us in the worst light possible. We finally saw an actual expert in the field and they confirmed that we were in the right all along.

Make no mistake, this consultant deserves to have their reputation damaged and I'm going to do everything lawful in my power to make that happen. They picked on entirely the wrong person to try this shit with and they were stupid enough to leave an audit trail.

Any of the advice saying that you're destroying someone life is complete lunacy. Not only do the medical professionals have insurance against this but if you, or one of your loved one, has suffered to someone else's negligence then you are 100% entitled to be compensated fairly for this.

I am desperate to find a solicitor who will take on my case they have all said it’s too complicated. On a no win no fee basis.