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The health care system in the United Kingdom is one of the best in the world, however, even practitioners in the best health care systems sometimes make mistakes. There are inevitably cases when harm is done to a patient due to human error - in that case, the injured party may opt to seek legal advice to determine if medical negligence was a factor behind any personal injuries suffered. A layman will have a hard time navigating legal waters on his own since the law concerning medical negligence claims is very different from the usual personal injury law and procedures. Thus, the injured party may have to consult a legal specialist rather than just a general practice solicitor.

The most common method of financing medical negligence claims is by the use of legal aid which is means tested. It is generally available to children and to those on a low income especially benefits claimants. Less than 1% of solicitors are eligible to apply for legal aid as they must be franchised members of the Law Society medical negligence panel which is reserved for those who can qualify to call themselves experts in this field. A successful legal aid applicant is in a strong, risk free position as even in the event of the claim being lost the other side cannot by law claim legal costs against a loser who is legally aided.

Under the no-win no-fee scheme, the solicitor will carry the majority of the litigation risk in medical negligence claims. The solicitor will only be compensated for legal expenses incurred if the ruling favours his client. Solicitors in the United Kingdom do not charge their fees out of the compensation - rather, this is awarded independently as a different item. Successful claimants will thus generally get complete compensation with no deductions. However the majority of firms of solicitors will ask the claimant to pay for out of pocket expenses such as court fees, medical report charges, medical records costs and also after-the-event insurance (which is usually needed to prevent the claimant from shouldering the award of legal costs should he receive a non-favorable ruling). In the event that the case is won these items can be reclaimed from the defendant however if the case is lost then the claimant will generally be unable to recover any such sums that have been paid.

There are three other funding methods for medical negligence claims that are only used occasionally :-

1. Trades unions at times agree to indemnify union members for legal costs for civil court proceedings. If you are a trades union member, ask your representative to make inquiries if this applies to you.
2. Clients may privately shoulder legal costs in court proceedings though this is no longer common because costs can be high. Should the claimant have approached various solicitors and none agree to accept the case via the no-win no-fee scheme, then this should be a sign to the claimant that the outcome of the case will probably be negative and privately funding the claim would be inadvisable.
3. Insurance companies may include clauses in their policies (especially in home contents insurance) that offer indemnity to policy owners for taking legal action for medical negligence. Policy owners should examine their policies well.

Compensation in medical negligence claims for personal injury damages generally falls into two basic categories (making computation easier for lawyers). General Damages is compensation for items that are hard to compute, which need the evaluation of a Judge. Usually compensation for pain and suffering due to the personal injury makes up the main item in this category. The court is responsible for adding interest to the amount. Special Damages is compensation for items which may be computed relatively precisely. In this category, the main items are loss of wages, general expenses and possible future expenses for care. If necessary, the court will also add on interest to the computation.

The law in the United Kingdom clearly defines medical negligence :- a healthcare professional who does not give the correct care to a patient, resulting in reasonably predictable harm and culminates in injury, loss or damage counts as medical negligence. A healthcare professional is deemed liable to pay personal injury compensation if it can be proven that he was careless, did not possess the right skills or chose to ignore the normal set rules and procedures in the case before the court. The competence of a physician is evaluated compared to the actions of other physicians in the same situation. A doctor will not be deemed negligent for employing a certain medical procedure if :- a reasonable number of his colleagues sanction the treatment method used, if the doctor conducted the treatment method the right way and the method used was the logical one to use.

The Limitation Act 1980 sets certain time limits for a claimant to pursue a case for personal injury. A claimant who fails to assure settlement or the start of legal proceedings before a court of law, a maximum of three years after the harm done to him was experienced, may not be able to seek compensation. There are some cases where this 3-year rule is waived and the court occasionally exercises its capacity to prolong the time allowed for filing. In the case of minors, the minor needs to reach 18 years of age first before the 3-year period starts. This privilege expires when the minor reaches 21 years of age. If any person has a mental disability, the court may opt to temporarily or permanently delay the start of time period.

This website is for information only and does not contain medical or legal advice which should only be obtained from a qualified professional person. This website does not recommend any individual medical or legal professionals and does not refer matters on to any medical or legal professionals. This website is not intended to endorse any person, association or firm. Please see our legal information page.