Medical negligence

[AnxiousAlicia]

Has anyone ever taken out a medical negligence claim for delayed diagnosis (or anything similar) against a hospital trust please and would you be willing to share your experiences? I have a case, but not sure if my mental health will stand it... thank you!

@LadyGabriella unfortunately the statute of limitation is only 3 years (which, when you've been going through cancer treatment for 2 of them really doesn't feel like enough but hey) so I have to make the decision now as we're already short for time... re. the team, most of them are technically different but the specialist who didn't put me on the 2 week pathway is still my specialist (he's a good surgeon and has been excellent since the point of diagnosis so in the end I didn't see a reason to change) and the other members of the team are part of that trust hence my concern. Thanks so much for engaging btw! x

@Radiohorror

Our main hope was what this wouldn't happen to someone else.

Trouble is the NHS never learns from it's mistakes. Every time, it's always "lessons will be learned", but then it just keeps happening and statistics are showing an ever increasing incidence of mistakes and claims.

My FIL was badly let down by the NHS on two occasions in the noughties - before that he was a fit, active and healthy newly retired guy looking forward to a happy retirement, lots of things planned, etc. First time, he didn't want the hassle of claiming, just happy they finally got it right and that he was still alive, although with much worsened health than should have been. Didn't even bother going for PIP/DLA, carers allowance nor even a blue badge for the car, even though they were probably entitled due to how he'd become. Then it all happened again, this time they killed him due to negligence, mis-diagnosis, etc. MIL was so upset by months of him being ignored in hospital, she couldn't face making a claim.

Then in subsequent years, she realised the effect on her on his death, both financially and emotionally, and realised that her own retirement was going to be a long and miserable affair without him. She couldn't drive, so spent a fortune on taxis (crap public transport), she had to start paying tradesmen to do all the odd jobs, house repairs, etc that her husband would have normally done for free. It really started to drain her savings! She wasn't well, but not bad enough for DLA/PIP, carers allowance, etc., so her savings dwindled, by having to pay for things that FIL would have done. Then it hit her she should have claimed compensation to make her life more pleasant. Unfortunately, she'd missed the claims deadline by the time she realised and felt well enough to go through the claims procedure.

I firmly believe more people should claim who believe that they have a valid claim. The specialist legal firms do an initial review to evaluate whether there's a valid claim, and the do most of the legwork themselves. I know for certain that if it ever happens again to my family, I'd be getting a claim started.

Maybe when the "claims" bill gets big enough, the NHS will start taking it seriously and ensuring "lessons" are really learned rather than just saying it!

@taxguru that's terrible, sorry to hear that. I agree re. more people claiming, it's just that it's a long old process and the thought of it hanging over me for years and years is quite overwhelming. They're obviously not going to make it easier as they don't want people to claim. I think it's easy to say 'absolutely I'd go for it' when you're in the right headspace but when you're worn down by years of treatment, surgeries etc, and feeling tired and emotionally spent, it's a harder prospect even if you do believe you have a case - if you know what I mean.