To sue or not to sue?

[redjelly]

This is a long story so I will try and be as brief as possible...

Basically, I have a medical condition that has left me very poorly for over a year. Although doctors diagnosed early on what the problem was, they made several mistakes, gave me the wrong treatment and have caused many delays. They refused to believe how ill I said I was and told me most of my symptoms were caused by depression (sessions of therapy showed in fact that I was in excellent mental health) which has since been proved to be untrue - all symptoms were due to my medical condition. I was refused referral to specialists for six months and only when I threatened legal action and was finally examined properly the full extent of the damage of my illness was made clear.

I have taken legal advice and as I have written proof and evidence, I am told that if I were to make a claim against the NHS, I would definately get a large payout.

I am a single mother who had a successful freelance career. For the last year I have been in hospital for a total of six weeks, been unable to walk far and use a stick to walk, unable to drive and unable to work as my eyesight is now very poor. I will require 3 operations and it will take several months to regain my health and I am told the battering my body has taken will shorten my life expectancy by between 5 and 10 years.

What I want is my health and my life back. I want an apology for the mistakes and the manner in which I was treated. I want to know what they are going to do to make sure this does not happen again.

So do I sue?

Arguements against it is that while financially it has been a struggle, I managed and when I am well again I should be able to go back to work as normal. I want to get on with my life and do not fancy a long and drawn out legal battle. I do not like the idea that people sue everyone these days and mistakes just happen sometimes, money won't fix it. I am uncomfortable with taking money from the NHS.

Arguements for it are that this has been the most awful time and I have been almost housebound for a year which need not have been the case if I had had the right treatment. My children have suffered from me being unable to look after them and our home well during this time and for some time to come yet. This should not have happened, the medical professionals in my care made several awful mistakes in treating me. I lost my income and many work opportunities at an important time in my career. The money would allow me to pay off most of my mortgage and set me and my sons up in a financially good position for the future.

So, what would YOU do? x

Sorry, I don't know the answer. I am in a remarkably similar position myself and am wrestling with the decision for pretty much the same reasons as you. Everyone I talk to says I should sue, but something is holding me back. Am off out now but will come back and read later with interest.

if they have made several mistakes and haven't apologised i would take them to the cleaners.

if they have made your life worse by neglegence/incompetnece sue.

Personally I know I wouldn't, the only way I'd sue the NHS was if I needed money for long-term care/ as a necessity because of financial implications. I would recognise the cost of the free treatment I received and the fact that taking money from this sourcs has implications for others.

That's my personal opinion though, many others I'm sure will differ. I would however want an apology.

my reasoning sorry, is that if they get away with treating people like this and have no consequences for it they are unlikely to make any amendements to the process that lead to you being left in this state.

and unfortunately money talks in these situations.
the NHS rarely make an apology because it looks like they did wrong and avoid it like the plague.

Sue if you can do, no brainer.Your family's wellbeing should be higher on your list of priorities than the NHS.

I would get a second (and then a third) opinion from a qualified solicitor who specialises in clinical negligence claims. You should be able to easily get a free first consultation. Irwin Mitchell are a good firm to approach - they have expertise in this area of law. If you check on the Law Society website you can find details of them and other firms who do this type of work for claimants.

I am astonished that someone has told you that you would definitely get a large payout if you were to sue. That sounds like a sales pitch rather than legal advice to me. As a solicitor (with zero expertise in clinical negligence, I should point out!) I would never ever give this type of categorical advice. Go and see someone else and see what they say. Then, as stated above, go and see a third person. Then sit down and think about your decision.

Without knowing the details of your case, these are my initial thoughts on reading your post:

Are you sure that your treatment was negligent, as opposed to just treatment that did not work for you?
It sounds like your legal team are confident though?

Sueing could be a long drawn out and difficult process.

Is it money that you want? It sounds like a formal complaint could achieve part of what you are after (an apology and hopefully changes to practice).

I dont know what I would do in your situation - I can see reasons for both options. If I was going to sue though I would want to be sure that I had a very good case to minimise the chance of having a lot of stress for an uncertain outcome.

If you want a compromise, then sue, but take the first settlement they offer.

If the evidence trail really is as clear-cut as you make out then they will make an offer to settle very quickly.

yes, I would continue pursuing this through the solicitors, seeing as you seem to have suffered a lot due to poor treatment. I can't say whether or not to sue full stop - so many variables, e.g. re funding solicitors' costs, expert fees, and how much you feel up to dealing with the stress of litigation.

Should point out that I have absolutely no legal background whatsoever - was just going on what you said.

Obviously listen to the solicitor instead of me!

My advice would be not to sue.

Of course I don't know the quality of your legal advice, but I would be wary of any firm telling you that you would definitely win, never mind the size of the payout. Surely there must be a lot of uncertainty in these things. And how on earth can they possibly predict you will now live 5-10 years less?

Also, I have heard that the NHS has a history of not admitting liability even when it definitely should, therefore you could be facing a long, drawn-out legal battle that could be mentally and physically very draining.

It sounds like you've been really unfortunate, but whatever the outcome of a court case it will not "give you your health back". Perhaps it would help your mental health and physical health more if you concentrated now on your recovery?

btw I assumed that the legal advice that you have a good case was made on the basis they had obtained independent medical expert advice confirming treatment was negligent and caused you to have worse symptoms. without a medical expert opinion, I would be somewhat about indications you have such a good case, as a lot turns on the expert evidence in this sort of case.

If it's as clear cut as that I would sue.

I agree that a "compensation culture" is a really bad thing, but this is not a scenario where yuo have made a mistake and are trying to put the blame on someone else for financial gain.

If they have been negligent, and damaged your health, then sue.

As for it being the NHS, like all services the NHS is interested in money, and beign sued is a good incentive to improve practice in that area.

Yes you have to sue in order that it doesn't happen to anybody else, it's the only language they understand some times.
The government wants schools, hospitals, councils run like business then they suffer the same consequences when they make mistakes.

i would get more legal opinions as has been said and would ensure that there is an excellent chacne of success before going any further.

i would not hang your hopes on winning or a large payout

if you sue, it could take 2 - 3 years.

years in which you could be getting on with normal life

however, teh trust will have insurance to deal with such things, and if you feel you have a strong case, and your health was compromised and damgaged by negligence , leading to quantifiable loss, then yes, i would seriously consider suing

but not using an ambulance chasing no win no fee big tv advert solicitor, but a proper, medical negligence firm with the expertise and resources you will need

Thanks for all your replies so far!

My legal advice is from one of the leading firms specialising in medical negilgence. To be fair to them, they were clear that nothing is ever definate but they said they had never seen such a strong case with such good evidence.

The estimate in the reduction of life expectancy is a recognised figure in my medical condition at it's present stage.

I believe that I will never get an apology from the NHS as they will see this admitting their blame if I were to go on to sue. Unfortuatley, threatening to sue was the only way I could finally got the medical care I needed..I had no intention of following through with it at the time.

Still confused! Good to read all the different opinion though so thank you x

No real advice but can absolutely understand where you are coming from. A close relative lost part of their foot due to GP incompetence and could have lost the whole thing. My relative did not complain as they were so ill and frightened but I was livid on their behalf and, if it had been my place to do so I would have raised merry hell. I get what you are saying about taking money from the NHS but if people don't fight when something goes wrong then nothing will be done to address this. I would definitely take it further and see where it gets you.

I was very brief in describing what happened as it would have gone on for pages! But maybe some more details will make it clearer for those who would be kind enough to offer their opinion?!

The fact some mistakes have been made is unfortunate but in my book s**t happens and thats no reason to sue - doctors are only human.

It is more the fact that I realised that there was a problem with my treatment early on and nobody would listen. It seemed to start when one hospital neruo I had been (unecessarily) sent too could not diagnose any neurological illness and so said "it must be stress then as you are a single mother". I didn't agree as I felt fine but, trying to keep an open mind, I arranged for councelling through my GP. I was told I was the least stressed person she had ever had and was in excellent mental health. I went back to the doctors who refused to accept this and I lost count of the number of lectures about how I didn't understand stress and depression and I was in denial - I didn't need a stick and there was nothing wrong with my eyesight.

As i have stated, only when in desperation I threatened legal action and I finally had my symptoms investigated properly that the doctors began running around to arrange treatment. The eyesight problem that was due to 'stress' was in fact cataracts and I did need a stick as my muscles were unable to work properly, I had hypercalcemia and my bones have become as brittle as an 80 year old...all due to the condition I already had been diagnosised with at the start of it all. Poor knowledge of the condition, being given incorrect medication and then months of telling me it was all in my head have made caused so many unnecessary problems.

There is so much more...

Still be interested to hear your opinions, I just can't decide what to do x

I guess that I feel right now that my treatment became just unacceptable and I need not have suffered some of what I have. If it was a private company I think I would sue but my sticking point comes when it is against a public body such as the NHS. Morally can I accept it is right for me to take money out of the NHS? I don't think so. But why should I accept this treatment?

Have you had an independent medical report done?

No bigstripeytiger, I haven't. I have no money and I would only start doing this if I intended on going down the road of a claim. My GP has not apopolgised as such but has stated verbally that "it's all there in black and white so we can't deny what has happened"

had relatives who sued doctors for negligence and got a hefty payout which they did need for the continued care of their daughter. however, it all boils down to insurance companies and money. you may get a payout, an apology and acceptance of liability by the parties involved is not so certain. be sure you know what you want your outcome to be otherwise you may be richer but get zero satisfaction, i.e there may be no apology, no dismissals, no change in procedure, no disciplinary. the doctors who misdiagnosed in my relative's case, continued to practice as normal, nothing changed for them.

I deal with medical negligence claims - but different jurisdication so I won't comment on chances of success (am presuming you are in England?)

One thing I can say is that for the majority of my clients, they are unable to move on with their lives until the court case is over. This can cause them a lot of stress and anxiety and often getting a offer to settle at the last minute with no apology is a bit of a let down.

If you did take your case to court the doctors involved would be questioned. However, the further down the line it goes, it often just becomes an economic exercise as in - how much will a court action cost us against how much might we have to pay out.

If you want some good advice about your options - not just litigation, but making a formal complaint etc - contact Avma - they are a charity and can really help you in where you want to go with this - as well as making sure you are dealing with the best solicitor.

meep - that is brilliant information, I had no idea I could get this help so thank you so much..I will be contacting them tomorrow! x

Reading with interest. Was advised "NHS almost never admit negligence. more than their life is worth". I agree with that.
But you still should, you know that, deep down, don't you. but if you decided you didn't have the strength for it, we would all totally understand.