Medical Negligence
If you attend a hospital, or see a doctor or any other medical practitioner, your problem is usually dealt with very competently. Occasionally, however, things do go wrong as a result of medical negligence, and this can be traumatic for both the victim and the family. In these instances, clear and expert advice can offer reassurance where there is confusion and uncertainty.
With decades of experience and a proven track record, in claims for medical negligence involving hospitals, GPs and other medical professionals in the NHS and private healthcare. Our specialist Medical Negligence Team has a reputation for taking on – and winning – challenging cases, transforming the lives of our clients.
Ranked in the top tiers of the prestigious Legal 500 and Chambers UK directories, we are recognised as one of the leading medical negligence and personal injury teams in the UK, and have been described as ‘vastly experienced and knowledgeable, with excellent client skills’.
How can we help you?
Our approach puts you and your family at the centre of the medical negligence claim. You will have one to one contact with the lawyer pursuing your claim so they get to know you, the impact of the situation on your lives and are on hand to answer your questions and worries.
We can also help where the person injured does not have capacity to pursue the claim themselves. We have considerable experience in Deputyship applications and management linked to injury claims. If a family member is unable to look into a claim on their own behalf, get in touch and we can explain how this can be done on their behalf.
Our success rate is built on expert and specific case plans and strategies which focus on:
- obtaining the right expert evidence to explore your claim;
- honest appraisals and advice based on the evidence;
- gathering the evidence, expert input and guidance to assess the claim;
- build the right team of barristers, medical experts, care and rehab providers & case managers and financial experts to progress the claim;
- securing an admission of negligence from the healthcare professional or organisation involved as early as possible;
- rehabilitation and how, through the claim, we can start to help putting your life back together;
Our team can help you claim compensation for serious through to catastrophic injuries in a range of areas of medical negligence:
- Brain Injury Claims
- Spinal Injury Claims
- Birth Injury Claims
- Maternity Care Claims
- General Practitioner Claims
- Surgery Claims
- Amputation Claims
- Cancer Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis Claims
- Other Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis Claims
- Mis-prescription of drug Claims
- Child Injury or Paediatric Claims
- Sepsis or Other Infectious Disease Claims
- Severe burn injury Claims
- Orthopaedic Injury Claims
- Other significant catastrophic injuries
Our Accreditations
Frequently Asked Questions
This is the everyday term for a Conditional Fee Agreement. We do offer this arrangement and we consider every situation on a case-by-case basis. We need to assess your claim first and then we can confirm with you if we are able to offer this option and we can then explain it in more detail to you. The terms of the arrangement can be complex and there are some common misconceptions, so it is important that you understand it in full. We will always make sure to discuss it carefully with you at the beginning so that you can be clear on what it entails before entering into it and proceeding with your claim.
We know that this is a particularly important question for most people considering making a claim. The total costs of a claim will vary from case to case but can be enormous so we would generally not advise proceeding with a claim if you cannot find suitable insurance and arrangements to cover these costs so that you are not personally liable for them. There are a few options available to do this. It is important to us that you are protected and looked after as best as possible in this regard so we will explore the best fee options for you to minimise the risk and avoid the burden. This could include pre-existing legal expenses insurance you may have or alternatively a Conditional Fee Agreement (also known as a No Win No Fee Agreement).
There is no guarantee of the timeframe because it can vary hugely depending on the extent of your claim and whether it may need to be issued with the Court. Whilst our focus will always be on resolving it as quickly as possible for you, the claims process does have some set timelines. It is also important that the right expert evidence is obtained, and the time taken in the investigation phase (by us as the claimant, and then by the healthcare provider) will vary for a number of reasons such as availability of the right experts, the investigations already undertaken by the healthcare provider etc. We always want to ensure that you get the best result that you deserve which can mean that it is necessary to go further. This is particularly true if you are in a position where you or your family member needs care and rehabilitation which requires funding. We would encourage you to start looking at a claim as soon as possible so that investigations can get underway. Where possible, we will aim to source early compensation payments to cover your initial losses and support you through your recovery while the claim is ongoing. Your recovery is the ultimate goal of the claim process and the compensation that you are seeking.
Get in touch as soon as possible. We would recommend getting some initial advice on your claim as early as possible after the injury has occurred even if you decide not to act on it immediately. Having the initial advice means you can be clear on your options and what will need to happen to commence your claim. It also means that any process to source early payments or treatment can begin if appropriate.
We offer a free initial consultation to discuss your potential claim. As part of this we can talk to you about the stages of a claim and what the first steps to take will be to get the process started.
Briefly and as a general rule, you have three years to issue a claim with the Court. This is known as your limitation period. Generally the three years will begin from the date of the allegedly negligent treatment or the date that you became aware that your treatment may have been negligent, if that is later.
Although you have three years to issue the claim in Court, there are several steps that will usually be required before you issue proceedings. We would recommend starting the process early so that you are not rushed into issuing proceedings rather than waiting until the last minute.
If you would like more detail or information on the limitation period and some of the exceptions, see our article: https://www.nockolds.co.uk/how-long-do-i-have-to-make-a-personal-injury-claim/
We offer a free initial consultation to discuss your potential claim – contact us by email or telephone and we can chat through what you need. It is important that you work with a team you trust and can talk to which means that initial conversation is very important. We are more than happy to discuss the situation with you, and if appropriate, arrange a consultation to explore the matter further, advise on a potential claim and answer your questions.
We recognise and value the importance of having a good relationship with your legal team and having a team that you can trust and rely on. There can be a variety of reasons why a claim may not be progressing the way you expect and it is understandable to consider whether a different team may be a better fit. If this is the case, then we are happy to have a free initial consultation to discuss this with you and to help you determine if this is the right option for you and whether our team is in a position to help you take your claim forward.