Suffering harm at the hands of a medical professional can be devastating, yet there were 13,833 new medical negligence claims made against the NHS in 2023/24. Consulting an experienced medical malpractice solicitor after substandard medical care is often the first step toward determining if negligence occurred and if compensation for damages is warranted.
Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis
One of the most common reasons to consult a medical malpractice solicitor like P.A Duffy & Co. is if you or a loved one has experienced a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a serious medical condition. A missed, wrong, or delayed diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death in some cases. If a reasonable doctor under the same circumstances would have diagnosed the condition sooner, resulting in a better prognosis, you may have grounds to make a claim.
Surgical Errors
Another prevalent reason to pursue legal action is if a surgeon makes an error during a procedure. This could involve operating on the wrong site, leaving surgical equipment inside the patient, or nicking an organ they shouldn’t have touched. In one case, a Brighton surgeon performed an operation using a Swiss army knife instead of a scalpel.
Surgical mistakes often lead to additional pain, corrective surgeries, and extended recovery times. In the most serious cases, surgical errors can cause permanent disability or death. A medical malpractice solicitor can assess if the surgeon acted negligently based on accepted standards of care.
Medication Errors
Medication errors are also among the top reasons patients take action against healthcare providers. This includes prescribing the wrong drug or dosage, not checking for allergies or adverse interactions, administering incorrect medications, or giving treatment via the wrong route (such as injecting a drug that should be oral). Medication mistakes can cause significant harm, depending on the type of drug and dosage given. A solicitor can determine if the error warrants financial compensation or other remedies.
Injuries During Childbirth
Many medical malpractice claims come from mothers and families due to injuries sustained during labour and delivery. This includes situations where the obstetrician fails to recognise foetal distress, doesn’t act quickly enough on complications, or causes avoidable injuries to the mother or baby. Injuries like cerebral palsy, brain damage, and paralysis may entitle the family to lifelong medical care and other damages if negligence can be established.
Hospital-Acquired Infections
Catching an avoidable infection while in the hospital is another reason patients contact solicitors. Infections like MRSA and C. difficile are common in medical settings. But if the hospital failed to follow proper sterilisation, hygiene, and infection control protocols, you may have a valid claim.
Failures in Duty of Care
There are also cases where a healthcare provider simply fails in their duty of care toward patients. This could involve neglecting a patient, not monitoring their condition appropriately, failing to order further testing, discharging a patient too early, or not referring them to specialists when needed. If these failures result in increased suffering, permanent injury, or wrongful death, a solicitor can advise whether you have sufficient grounds for a case.
In nearly all situations, the solicitor’s job involves proving negligence on the part of the healthcare provider or facility. This requires showing that the care given did not meet accepted standards, and that this failure directly caused the patient’s injuries or damages.