Has anybody sued the NHS and if so how long did it take?

[dissapointedafternoon]

The hospital have "lost"'more then half of my notes which my solicitor requested in November.
I'm conceded about the time line required for the case to be pursued and also if the case can go ahead without thsse?

How long did it take you from meeting your solicitor to finishing the settlement.

If so, how much were you awarded and for what did you sue them?

Wow. You’re going to take more money out of the NHS? Go you

Not much help Op...I don't agree with sueing an already struggling essential service....

Didn't ask you that question

I need compensation to cover the cost of corrections procedures I need from negligent care.

Who's carrying out the corrections? If it's medical issues then it would be the nhs?

Cosmetic issues?

No not cosmetic I have severe nerve damage in my kidney area which goes up into my chest.
It's from a urine bag left in too long with no management plan and I almost died several time but it is fhe nerve damage and lack of consent which is the problem. I was bullied into a nephrostomy.

I need Botox in back to be able to work and look after my son.

NHS took 7 months to do a procedure and. I can't wait that long or afford to be on all of the medication as I must run my business with my husband

You've written about this before, I recall you disagreeing with the medication.

I can see that you are focused on being compensated by our health service, be prepared for it not to be a popular sentiment.

I think the problem is that for you to have a strong case you have to show that any damage is long term. I was reading an article on the BBC news site about parents getting compensation for children damaged at birth. The payments are often delayed for many years because the size of the payment depends on the severity of the disability and the impact on the child's quality of life and this can only be assessed over a long time.

asking what other people have received is a bit pointless, unless it is exactly the same as the problems you have. You can't go and say my friend x lost a leg and got £xxxxxxx amount so I want the same for my kidney.

I don’t think it’s fair for everyone to treat the NHS as such a protected asset that can do no wrong! My nan had a hysterectomy many years ago and during the operation the surgeon damaged her kidneys and didn’t tell her/anyone. It came out 10 years later as it almost killed her. Luckily once they opened her up they realised what had happened and she survived but refused to sue and it infuriates me that the bastard surgeon had no reprocussions for his actions.
If they’ve fucked up, they need to know they’ve fucked up - it’s not even about the money. I’m sure you’d rather be healthy and have none of it happen than have a healthy bank balance.
Sorry not helpful to you though!

When you say they took 7 months is that just because that was the waiting time? I’ve just had a friend nearly die of sceptic shock after what should have been a routine op for kidney stones. He has had a catheter in for 9 months and had to be on strong pain killers all that time. That was simply the wait to get the op done. Nothing he or they could do about it and he only got it done recently due to a cancelation by someone else. It’s shocking what a state the nhs is in. I live in fear of getting really sick.

NHS took 7 months to do a procedure and. I can't wait that long or afford to be on all of the medication as I must run my business with my husband

You do realise the waiting times are because they've got no money? So well done for making someone elses wait time even longer

NHS took 7 months to do a procedure and. I can't wait that long or afford to be on all of the medication as I must run my business with my husband

You do realise the waiting times are because they've got no money? So well done for making someone elses wait time even longer

It's not because they have no money it is because they are disorganised in the pain team.
I have very very permanent damage

Ok, so, I know I’m going to get flamed for this, but, there are times when the NHS does get it wrong and compensation is appropriate. I say that as someone who worked for the NHS and who had shocking care when my DS was born but has not sued (DS CTG flatlined but trainee midwife couldn’t read it, trainee and qualified then have stand up row about whether a Dr is needed, Dr comes in, panics and rips DS out with forceps leaving causing massive bleed, leaving me incontinent and an episiotomy that looked like cross over shoe laces which meant I couldn’t have sex for 18 months until they fixed it. My husband got PTSD, my son was a nightmare because his head had massive dents in it for months so he screamed all the time, and they ignored my high blood pressure / swelling up like a puffer fish until I started fitting. I know first hand what bad care looks like and how damaging it can be).

What we can’t do OP, is tell you that your claim is justified because we just don’t have all the facts. We also can’t tell you how long it will take. Your solicitor should be doing that. I know it’s frustrating and your case may be totally legitimate but I’m afraid this is not the best place to get the information you want. I’m sure that, phrased correctly, people will be sympathetic to what you’ve been through, but asking sympathy for suing the NHS is asking a difficult question that people on here won’t be able to answer because they just don’t have the detail.

I hope you find the resolution and peace you are looking for, with or without suing.

I suspect that the length of time to get w settlement from sueing the NHS will be far longer than any waiting list. I doubt that anyone else’s time estimates are going to tall you how long your case would take.

Cases for medical negligence are usually really protracted. I’m certainly not saying don’t proceed with your claim BUT I would think there is no way resolution would be within 7 months. Given this your treatment after 7 months on the waiting list would most likely occur before your claim is resolved. If you choose not to persue treatment before your claim is resolved you will most likely be waiting longer than the 7 months when you pop out on the list. The person who should be giving you frank advice regarding probable timeframe is your solicitor. I would presume they are experienced in this area and they have the relevant details of your case so they are best placed to give you probable outcome and timeframe. The legal team acting for the NHS would generally have absolutely no incentive to hurry anything along so whilst you want a speedy resolution you need to accept this is most likely not on their agenda.

My in laws did a very long time ago - it took them 7 years to settle.

Wow. You’re going to take more money out of the NHS? Go you hmm

I work in the nhs and 100% support people who have been victims of poor practice in making claims against the service. Its the reason the service pays for liability insurance.

@DriggleDraggle I'm not sure, I had a nephrostomy when I was pregnant and it almost killed me. Does this ring any bells? How is your son?

I also work in the NHS and 100% support claims for negligent care, if it costs the person financially that is due to an ongoing unnecessary trauma or injury. Why should the NHS be exempt from this? If there were no repercussions for bad care, what then would the quality of care be like? Many important patient safety measures were implemented on the back of litigation as hospitals want to avoid repeat claims. Often the focus is more on preventing litigation and complaints than patient harm - therefore they are necessary to improve safety.

OP it can take years and years and years from instructing a solicitor to a settlement being made. The process is long and arduous. Your solicitor is the best person to guide you with this.

I would be certain to research your solicitor very carefully. You don't want to end up with huge legal bills that you can't pay. This won't be a inexpensive short process.

Years. I know of cases that are still ongoing almost a decade down the line. Also be careful of delaying treatment due to litigation. It can be implied that the condition was not serious enough for you otherwise you would have got immediate treatment. It's also (I believe) about mitigation of losses - so if you can't work but opted to wait for treatment, the other side would argue to only cover you till the NHS would have given you treatment.

Also negligence is difficult to prove - it's not about whether things went wrong, but whether it was reasonable for the doctor to give that treatment.