Understanding clinical negligence and your rights

Clinical negligence refers to an unfortunate state of affairs, whereby a health care provider commits negligence, through act or omission, where the treatment isn’t up to the standards of medical practice and leads to the injury or death of the patient.

If you are the victim of clinical negligence, it is critical that you do not ignore it and that you take the necessary steps to bring the negligence to light. That way, appropriate action may be taken against the guilty parties and your treatment can continue without any more mistakes.

This article goes over some of the basic things you need to know, as well as your rights, when it comes to making clinical negligence claims.

Your medical rights

Before you consult a solicitor, you should try exhausting all of your immediate options first. This is vital, as it will have bearing on your case, if it goes forward.

If you believe that you are the victim of medical negligence, it’s important that you’re aware of your rights and what you are entitled to as a patient. One of your first and foremost rights is that you should have your complaint dealt with seriously and effectively. You also have the right to be informed about the results of any investigations that are in process.

Of course, you also have the right to make a claim for a judicial review if you’ve been harmed by clinical negligence, so that you may receive due compensation.

Initial courses of action

One of your options is to contact the Care Quality Commission. It’s an organisation that acts as an independent adjudicator for healthcare problems in England. Try and see one of their representatives for your GP surgery or your hospital.

If the CQC can’t help you, you can also take your case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, if you feel that the NHS service hasn’t given your case enough attention.

If all else fails

If the official channels aren’t receptive to your complaints, your next port of call should be to hire a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence cases. It is advised that you hire a solicitor who specialises in these kinds of cases, as they know exactly how to help you and get you due compensation.