What is Medical Negligence? – A Guide

Most receive safe and effective treatment and care in the UK, whether that be through the NHS or on a private basis, through their GP or at a hospital. However, when treatment or care falls below an acceptable standard, the consequences can be devastating.

From scarring, amputation, to continence failure, inability to work and financial difficulty, to reduced life expectancy, and sometimes causing someone to lose their life, the impact of negligent treatment can be wide-ranging.

Claims focus on seeking a redress for patients, or sometimes their bereaved families, after negligent treatment has caused harm.

A missed or delayed diagnosis is a common ground for medical negligence claims. Examples may include where a clinician has failed to refer a patient for investigations urgently, despite “red flag” symptoms, or where a hospital has failed to recognise clear signs of illness on a scan.

Delayed diagnosis of cancer can arise when tests have not been ordered, or their results have been overlooked, or when referrals have not been processed or acted upon.

There are many other areas and illnesses that can be the subject of missed or delayed diagnosis. Further examples may include failing to refer for specialist review and treatment following a bone fracture or break, failing to identify an abnormality on a scan, or failing to follow up an abnormal blood test result.

Missed or delayed diagnosis can cause delays in treatment commencing, or cause such a delay that treatment is no longer effective, causing distressing consequences to both patients and their families.

Surgery can carry recognised risks that may be consented to before the procedure, and sometimes unavoidable complications may occur. However, some errors should not happen.

Surgical negligence may arise where treatment was unreasonable and falls below the required standard, causing injury and harm. Examples may include causing an injury to a different area of the body or a different organ during surgery that should not reasonably have happened. Other examples may involve operating in the wrong area, leaving surgical tools behind, or failing to recognise or manage complications during or after the surgery, such as bleeding or infection.

Medical negligence claims may also result from surgeons lacking appropriate experience, or operating without the necessary support, or from failed communication between treating teams, leading to avoidable injury and harm.

Medical negligence during pregnancy, labour, and delivery can have particularly devastating consequences to families at what can otherwise be a joyous moment in life.

Examples of maternity and labour negligence can include failure to advise of risks of types of delivery, delays in performing emergency treatment or surgery, mismanagement of complications, and failure to identify or monitor foetal distress.

Errors during care can result in lifelong and life-changing consequences for the mother and also the child. Outcomes for mothers could involve tearing, incontinence, scarring, and affect future pregnancies. Consequences for newborns can be devastating, such as brain injury, and can lead to a need for long-term care.

Understanding medical negligence can help inform patients to ask questions and raise concerns early, and, where negligence has happened, allow them to seek redress. Where the standard of care has failed, compensation claims may be appropriate, although the wider goal can be learning and accountability to improve outcomes for all. Understanding medical negligence and how to recognise this can be the first step towards resolution, and also to prevention.

From scarring, psychological trauma, to amputation, incontinence, to shortened life expectancy, or even causing a death, medical negligence can have a range of consequences, and it can be life-changing to those who suffer it or for their bereaved families. Understanding medical negligence allows those who have suffered to, where appropriate, recover compensation to help with recovery and adaptation as may reasonably be needed. Each case can be unique, and the circumstances and extent of injuries and losses suffered need to be considered carefully.

If you have suffered medical negligence, it is important to get specialist advice as soon as possible. PHH Solicitors offer ‘no win, no fee’ service for medical negligence claims, and have specialist medical negligence solicitors who can offer expert advice and guidance. Please contact us or  our office on 01253 778231 for a free, no obligation consultation.