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Clinical Negligence
Here at McKeag & Co we have specialised solicitors who are members of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel, the Law Society Medical Negligence Panel and the referral panel for Action against Medical Accidents.
Our Solicitors have a wide range of experience and whatever the circumstances of your claim, you can rest assured that it will be handled with the utmost discretion and sensitivity.
McKeag & Co have a Public Funding franchise in the field of Clinical Negligence and if you are eligible, we will obtain Public Funding on your behalf. If you are not financially eligible we shall be happy to discuss alternative funding arrangements with you.
If you feel that the medical treatment that you have received has been negligent and would like to see if you are able to pursue a claim for Clinical Negligence, please contact us and you will be put in touch with a Solicitor who will discuss your claim with you free of charge, either over the telephone or in person, if required.
Please contact us today on 0191 2131010 and ask for our Clinical negligence Department. Alternatively please use the contact form.
For further information on making a claim for Clinical Negligence and the service that we provide please scroll down
Contents
- Q&A Guide to investigating a claim for Clinical Negligence
- PDF document The NHS complaints procedure
- PDF document Case Studies
1. Q&A Guide to investigating a claim for Clinical Negligence
Preliminary Issues
Q. HOW DO I KNOW IF I MAY HAVE A CLAIM FOR CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE?
A. In order to succeed in a claim for Clinical Negligence, you must be able to show that the treatment that you received fell below a standard that is considered to be acceptable to all medical practitioners.
In the event that you are able to show this, you must then be able to show that this negligence caused you to suffer some form of injury or quantifiable loss.
Q. WHAT IF THE INCIDENT GIVING RISE TO MY CLAIM OCCURRED LESS THAN 6 MONTHS AGO?
A. If this is the case, you will be advised to pursue the NHS Complaints Procedure in order for the Defendant to instigate a formal investigation into your claim.
Click here to find out more about the NHS Complaints Procedure.
Q. WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THE INITIAL APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS MY CLAIM?
A. During this appointment, we will obtain as much information as possible from you about the circumstances giving rise to your claim.
This is to enable us to attempt to make an accurate assessment of the merit in taking your claim forward, and advise you accordingly.
Once we have done this, we will also discuss with you whether you will be financially eligible for Public Funding (Legal Aid), or carry any Legal Expenses Insurance on any pre-existing insurance policies to cover the cost of investigating your claim.
Q. WHAT IF I AM FINANCIALLY ELIGIBLE FOR PUBLIC FUNDING TO INVESTIGATE MY CLAIM?
A. If you are financially eligible for Public Funding and live locally, you will be invited to come into the office in order to sign a Legal Help form which will permit us to conduct some preliminary enquiries into your claim.
Once these enquiries are complete, should we feel that your claim has a greater than 50% chance of success, we will then make an application for Public Funding to investigate your claim.
Q. WHAT IF I AM NOT FINANCIALLY ELIGIBLE FOR PUBLIC FUNDING TO INVETSTIGATE MY CLAIM?
A. If you are not eligible for Public Funding, then following our initial meeting, we will make a decision on whether or not we will be prepared to proceed with your claim with the benefit of a Conditional Fee Agreement (also known as a ‘No Win No Fee’ Agreement).
If we proceed in this way, we would not charge you for any of the work that we complete on your behalf .
In the event that following our investigation into your claim, we decide that we are unable to take your claim any further then you can rest assured that you will not be charged for the work that has been completed up until this stage.
In the event that you are successful in your claim, we would then seek to recover our legal costs, along with any expenses incurred in investigating your claim from the Defendant.
Pursuing the Claim
Q. WHAT WILL HAPPEN ONCE MY CLAIM HAS BEGUN?
A. Once your claim is underway, our first steps will be to notify the Defendant of a potential claim against them, and apply for copies all of your medical records.
Once these records have been received, they will be considered in detail and if necessary further research will be performed into your claim.
Following this, we will obtain details of an appropriate expert to provide us with an opinion on whether the treatment which you received was negligent and if so whether it caused the injuries/ losses that you have suffered.
Q. WHAT IF THE EXPERT’S REPORT DOES NOT SUPPORT MY CLAIM?
A. If your claim is not supported by the expert’s report, we will meet with you to discuss its contents and whether any further enquiries are necessary into any other aspect of your treatment.
In the event that we do not feel that we are able to take your claim any further, we will take the time to discuss this with you in detail and ensure that you understand our reasons for reaching this decision.
Q. WHAT IF THE EXPERT’S REPORT IS SUPPORTIVE OF MY CLAIM?
A. In the event that you receive a positive expert’s report, we will then be in a position to take your claim forward.
2. PDF document The NHS complaints procedure
3. PDF document Case Studies