Starting a legal claim against the NHS

[ObsidianButterfly]

Has anyone taken legal action against the NHS and won?
I am thinking of taking them to court regarding a procedure that I had.

Irwin Mitchell are one of the best med neg solicitors and do no win no fee.

Those of us who have worked in the nhs know they only learn by you taking them to court.

My father took legal action against the NHS when medical negligence killed my mum. They settled out of court after the coroner at her inquest was very damning about the level of care she (didn’t) receive. We used Irwin Mitchell too and they were brilliant.

And he used his household insurance to pay for it too though in the end the Trust covered all legal costs.

This is a very good point about the records. My mum’s discharge papers and the records of the medication she was prescribed (to which she was allergic) ‘disappeared’ from her files. Luckily she had taken the patient copies with her and I had kept them after her death - when the hospital claimed in the inquest that they were ’misplaced’, I was able to interrupt (via the barrister) and say I had them, and the coroner halted the inquest while I drove home to collect them and bring them back. My dad had been the primary point of contact with the legal team, and hadn’t realised I had these copies and I hadn’t realised until the inquest that the originals were ‘lost’.

Hey OP, I work for the NHS in my Trust's Quality and Safety Team. If at the end of our investigation process we think a patient has a claim we encourage them to make contact with our legal department and instruct their own solicitor also. From my last check, there were quite a few successful cases/settlements.

The saddest thing we discovered after the inquest was that the doctor concerned had a history of the same behaviour with other patients. She seemed to really enjoy causing suffering and treating patients and relatives with contempt. The bare faced lies at the inquest were shocking, but the coroner's officer had lost a lot of the paperwork we had sent and we didn't realise that the coroner had not seen it.
The whole thing was a shambles.
The hospital claimed to have lost the notes for 6 months.
Various nursing records were removed and medical entries had been added on separate sheets of paper. It was obvious from the dates and times that they had been added later. Shameful.

Thank you to everyone that has responded. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences. I'm sorry for those of you that lost loved ones as a result of other peoples negligence and lack of care.

I've made a formal complaint to PALS about the incident and also not having my documents sent in the 28 days it was supposed to. I'm still waiting and I sent the request on May.

Oh also to note, I do not have home insurance.

You can't just decide to use them. Nor will complaining over the phone to a consultant suffice.

First of all ensure your request was in writing. If it was and they haven't responded then you need to make a complaint via the official channel. Then follow through the complaint procedure until it is either resolved or they fail to do so. If you haven't followed the proper complaint process and given them an opportunity to resolve it then you will waste time and money consulting a lawyer.

I can't just decide to use what/who?

See above post.

I got this response to my complaint to PALS

"Thank you for your e-mail.

I have copied in the Complaints service to take your concerns forward."

People do sue, and they do win, but it's a very long process - the NHS hardly ever settle early.

Go through the formal complaints process first, but keep all your correspondence filed carefully.

That was a typo. I meant you can't just sue them.

I see. Thanks for your input. I am trying to do things the right way, hence this post asking for help.