Clinical negligence claim - medical negligence claim

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Often times, people get confused between the terms clinical negligence claim and medical negligence claim. The fact is that both terms are same. Medical negligence was the commonly used term but clinical negligence became the official term after the reforms took place. These terms can be used interchangeably.

Clinical negligence can be defined as the loss or injury caused to a person when he was under the care of a doctor due to negligence in providing proper medical care. Suppose you are in care of a medical professional getting some treatment. The treat which you received was not up to the standards and due to this you suffer injury or loss. This injury could have been prevented if the treatment was properly done. This can be classified as a clinical negligence on the part of the medical professional and the patient can claim compensation for such negligence.

Clinical negligence does cover a few aspects which are considered while determining whether the claim is valid or not. These include expected treatment, substandard treatment given to patient, injury caused and the loss to the claimant.

Expected treatment refers to the duty of the medical professional which is easy to determine. The sub standard treatment as claimed by the patient is the next thing to be proven. This is usually difficult to prove and may need the help of an independent consultant for an expert opinion. The consultant will study the case and then give his opinion whether the medical duty was breached or not. The next aspect of this claim is the injury caused to the person. The claimant has to show or prove that the injury occurred to him was in fact due to the negligence on the part of medical practitioner and it could have been avoided even if proper care was taken on his part.

The last thing is the proof of loss to the patient due to clinical negligence. Once the case is proved, the claimant can ask for compensation of loss which can be past or future expenses he had to incur due to this negligence. These include all expenses like medicines, transportation, doctor visits and other medical treatment as 'special damages'. He can also claim for compensation for the pain and suffering which are called 'general expenses'.

The patient should be aware of the time lines and procedure for making a claim. Most of the cases involving clinical negligence are settled out of court. NHSLA is the official body that hears these cases and they receive only around 50 cases per year. All other cases are generally settled out of court. The patient should first register a complaint with the complaint manager of the hospital within 12 weeks of the incident. He should try to resolve it locally. If he is not satisfied then he can get an independent review done. This involves a review of treatment and concerned situation by two or three independent professional consultants. The last option is the NHS Ombudsman.

Getting a clinical negligence compensation claim can be a long and frustrating procedure. It is always recommended to find a suitable personal injury attorney or a legal solicitor to help you through this process.

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Comments

Oct 8, 2010 2:55am

Mesriani_Law_Group
Thanks for the info! While there is no difference between clinical and medical negligence, I believe both terms are often used in UK. In the US, we simply can refer to it as medical malpractice.