Anybody Sued NHS?

[Trinidading3]

Need some advice...has anyone Sued NHS without solicitor for late diagnosis, failure of duty if care? If yes, was it straight forward, any advice?

I don’t have advice about the legal side of things. I would say, though, to focus on getting well and keep your mental energy for that. You can Sue up to a number of years later, you can always get back to that.

I'm on the other end of this, nhs manager. You can instruct a solicitor on a no win, no fee basis. They will request documents from the hospital and assess the case. If there has already been an upheld complaint or better still a serious incident investigation or ombudsman report then it will be more likely that the hospital will make disclosures and admit breaches asap. The insurers pay and admitting breaches early reduces that liability cost.
However if the hospital does not feel it has breaches to admit to then it can go on and on and on.
So if you haven't made a formal complaint I would do so, that will allow you to see their case as it were.
You also need to think about what a win looks like, you may not get the outcome you hope for. So how will that feel? Sometimes it's not worth the hassle.But sometimes it is.

As an example I've seen a case recently which isn't worth it. A tragic bereavement but the hospital did not breach the standard of care so any case will not succeed. I feel for the bereaved family because I don't think that outcome is going to help them. Energy has gone in to a fruitless suit which could have been better spent. You need to be sure it's worth it.

I would not advise attempting it without a solicitor btw. You need expert witnesses etc. It's a serious business and one for the professionals.

Not me, but my Mum did. My dad experienced a "never" event where his wrong body part was amputated.

At first I was against my mum suing, as I felt it was human error and the NHS needs money. But my mum and I met with the hospital for an "explanation" meeting and we were both appalled at what had actually happened. Lots of incompetence and system failings. They didn't actually apologise. It was awful, they wouldn't admit any liability. So my Mum went ahead and sued. She used a solicitor who had experience in the area, and donated her "winnings' to a medical charity.

It was all awful. I am a great believer in snd defender of the NHS but was so angry with the way my poor dad was treated. It wasn't the wrong amputation that angered me most (although that was pretty bad) but the fact that management shrugged us off as though it wasn't serious. All we wanted was for anger poor sod not to have to go through the same experience. It probably didn't help that dad died 5 days before we had the meeting with the hospital so I was very raw when it happened.

I'm still not sure my Mum did the right thing, I wanted an apology and we never got it. Not sure suing helped. But it felt as though we had to do it for Dad.

So sorry for the absolutely horrible situation you and your mother had to go through as for your father that breaks my heart.....thanks for your reply it's given me direction and confirmation of what I need to do ...I have all the time in the world and I have to do the right thing for my darling beloved husband....I won't be able to sleep at night unless I sue them for the disgraceful failure of care from the beginning until the end.....🌻

Request medical notes before you do anything. Contact your local Community Health Council for help, don't try and do it on your own you will need support, their advice is free and independent of healthboard. The NHS will close ranks and only tell you what they have to. Do not trust them to be open. If you want systemic change complain to PTR then ombudsman if you are not satisfied, the community council will help you with this. No win no fee is compensation from NHS insurance not from the NHS finances for patient care etc. I did not use solicitor, the life that was lost would have amounted to £200.00 compensation so would not cover fees. The solicitor said ombudsman was the only option. There is a pending inquest too. I have had a terrible time for last year trying to get answers. The process is slow and opaque. It grinds you down and they hope you will give up.

You need a solicitor for sure. We used Leigh Day and of course the other big one in this field is Irwin Mitchell. No win no fee so it's worth going along for an initial consultation anyway. If you go ahead I don't see how you could possibly do it alone.

As previous poster said, the early part will involve your side requesting info from the hospital and in our case that took over a year with a lot of smoke and mirrors and delaying tactics.

Solicitor will then use experts to analyse all the info to construct a case and then decide if / how to proceed.

It was horrible and lengthy and our case failed. I'm glad I tried and we did get an admission of guilt and some explanations which gave me some peace.

Good luck.

You need to understand the grounds on which a med neg case is based. I’m using the little info you have provided so what I’m typing may not adequately reflect your true situation.

1. was the service negligent in not getting a diagnosis sooner?

or did they do relevant tests but it was a “difficult” diagnosis to make.

If there was no negligence in the delayed diagnosis your case will fail.

if there is negligence you move onto question 2). Did the negligence cause the outcome? (I’m assuming death/earlier death).

in this they will assess whether earlier treatment would have substantially altered the outcome.
it doesn’t always.

I too have seen families embark on fruitless legal action (and we have considered it ourselves).

Agree with poster up thread - complain in first instance. If you have specifics in mind mention them directly.

Book an appt with a specialist firm and listen to their advice. If they think the case isn’t winnable they will tell you.

@TrishTrix Exactly this.

After a long time we proved negligence, for an admission, apologies etc

Then the action failed because it wasn't possible to prove the negligence led to the outcome even though it was probable.

In our case the solicitor could see from the outset that negligence was obvious (eventually) but we didn't know about the outcome until we had already pursued the matter.

Our case was very clear cut, the hospital couldn't deny the amputation was an error. I would think it is much more difficult if its not an open and shut case.

You need to.think carefully about what you want from the case. All we wanted was an apology and a guarantee that procedures would change so it couldn't happen to anyone else. We didn't get a proper apology, but the hospital did promise that they were changing pre-op protocols so it couldn't happen again. We have no way of checking that.

My mother went ahead with the case after the meeting with the hospital as she felt she hadn't been listened to, she thought they might take more notice if there was a financial cost. I'm still not sure she did the right thing.

I wish I’d sued the GP who gave my DM a wrong diagnosis, leaving her real diagnosis to worsen, leading to her death. Don’t leave it too long if you’re going to do it.

A family member successfully sued after an operation that was done completely wrong which led to additional ongoing medical needs.

It took a long, long time and was incredibly difficult and complicated.

Don’t do it without a solicitor, it’s such a complicated drawn out process and you need someone who can get the details out of the NHS system which isn’t easy.

My mother did when I was a child. My father died due to catastrophic error compounded by racism. The amount she won equated to what he would have earned for our family before retiring. Which was a lot.

I know two people who did but with solicitors , one took approx 16 years to finalise but that was with a child , the other took approx 9 years from start to finish . I know you say you have all the time , but please don’t under estimate how this will take a fair amount of energy as well and be the first and last thing on your mind each day . I do acknowledge you may well say it is now , but the process is draining .
I also had a issue with the NHS where medical error almost cost my life , I chose not to sue as in the long run the NHS also saved me , but I understand each way .

I did on behalf of my son. It was not easy.

He was injured during birth due to the doctor's negligence and has erbs palsy as a result.

Shoulder dystocia - instead of correctly performing the mcroberts manoeuvre the doctor panicked and pulled his head causing brachial plexus injury resulting in partial paralysis.

It took several years and the NHS denied liability all the way. Including losing some notes, retrospectively writing others and having no idea where the doctor was now.

In the end he was awarded approx £300,000

We used Irwin Mitchell.

Worth having a chat with one of the no win no fee firms. Sometimes your house insurance will cover the fees as well.

Meant to say he was around 3 when we started (I think. It's all a bit of a blur. We'd not long had his autism diagnosis, I'd had another baby, raging pnd etc) and he was 10 when we won.

I'm currently doing this. My house insurance are paying the legal fees.

I work in this area. Obviously I don't know the facts of your case so can't advise, but these are the general principles:

1. you need to be able to prove that the treatment provided fell below an acceptable standard

AND

2. you need to be able to prove that any substandard treatment either caused or contributed to the outcome.

You can't win a case without proving both elements. It can often be quite difficult to prove.

Why would you not use a solicitor? If you have a reasonable case, you can be represented on a contingency fee basis. If you don't have a strong enough case for a solicitor to agree to represent you, I would re-think your approach and focus on a complaint, as opposed to litigation.

As @Ihatebloodycocomelon says, the threshold for proving medical negligence is quite high, but there is no threshold for pursuing a complaint .

I did, but I used a solicitor on a CFA basis. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.
For me it was long, but quite straight forward as the hospital were clearly negligent which almost led to death (not removing any placenta post C-Section and subsequent sepsis)
The money was irrelevant, I wanted it to be used as a learning tool for junior doctors being properly supervised during procedures and they've since put additional protocols in place apparently.

Despite what others are saying there is a time limitations within which proceedings must be started. Get legal advice

My niece is going through this currently, I won’t say what it’s about but a major situation three years ago

Internal and ombudsman investigations found negligence and recently a case was found in her favour with compensation under offer

Just want to say thank you everyone for your advice and life experiences.....it has made me feel not so alone in all of this....🦁💐

@Trinidading3 I am so sorry you are having to even think about this. No advice, but as an NHS nurse, I just wanted to say sorry for whatever went wrong and, I hope it gives you the closure that you need.