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Clinical and Medical Negligence: Complaining and making a claim

How is a complaint made about NHS treatment?

Complaints about NHS treatment are handled via the NHS complaints procedure. Importantly, the NHS complaints procedure does not offer financial compensation, regardless of whether a complaint is upheld. If you are offered a financial settlement whilst going through the NHS complaints procedure, you should consult a solicitor.

 

The NHS complaints procedure is not in place to deal with claims of medical negligence, but it should help you to get a full explanation of what happened in your case. This can be a useful starting point for deciding whether it is worthwhile pursuing a claim for medical negligence.

 

You could begin your complaint verbally, at the time of the incident, giving NHS staff a chance to respond to your concerns. You may be asked to put your complaint in writing to the Chief Executive of the NHS Trust responsible for the hospital concerned, or in the case of a GP, to the Practice Manager, and in the case of an Optician or Dentist to the professional themselves.

 

What will our medical negligence solicitors do?

At this stage, we can advise you regarding your complaint, and are happy to discuss any written or verbal response you receive to your complaint.

 

However, before we can advise you regarding whether you have a claim for medical negligence, we will need to review copies of all the hospital and GP records. Usually, these can be obtained voluntarily, but if necessary, we can apply for a Court Order to get your records released.

 

We will then instruct an independent medical expert who will also review the records, report on what happened in your case and where appropriate, to highlight areas where the treatment provided might be considered to fall below acceptable standards.

 

Throughout our investigations we will keep you informed, every step of the way, and help you to understand what happened and why.

 

Contact us to discuss your medical negligence claim further

If you believe that you have suffered harm as a result of negligent medical treatment, our clinical negligence solicitors could advise you on whether you could make a claim for compensation. Call us on 01924 882000 or email clinical.negligence@switalskis.com to arrange your free initial consultation.