When we submit ourselves to medical care, we’re entrusting the practitioner with care over the most important thing we own: our own bodies. From this position, they can do us tremendous good. They can cure disease, alleviate pain, and reassure us that what we thought was a serious problem is, in fact, only a minor curiosity. But they can also do us considserable harm. In most cases, they do this accidentally – but the results can be no less devastating.
If you’re in the unfortunate position of having received substandard medical care, then you might not suppose that you’ve therefore been a victim of medical negligence, and may need to get in touch with a few medical negligence solicitors. But that might be precisely what’s happened. Let’s take a look at some of the tell-tale signs that might indicate that you’ve been a victim of negligence, and might be entitled to damages.
Do you meet the criteria?
When establishing a medical negligence claim, three things have to be proven. First, that the professional had a duty of care (overwhelmingly, the answer here is yes). Second, that the duty of care has been breached. Third, that you have suffered harm as a result.A breach of duty of care might amount to a practitioner simply falling below the acceptable standard. Would a reasonable professional in the same position make the same mistake? If the answer is no, you might have a case.
Has your life changed?
Let’s think about the harm that we talked about. If you’ve been forced to make changes to your lifestyle, then you have almost certain been harmed. If you found yourself unable to drive, or to walk, or to do your job, then you have reason to make a claim. Part of the role of damages is to restore parties to the state that they were in before the injustice took place – and in this case, that might mean paying for the work that you’ve lost, and the pain and suffering you’ve endured as a result of your ordeal. This might sound like a dramatic term, but it’s the technical one that’s employed in law.Have you gotten an apology?
An apology, almost by definition, is an admission of guilt. If it’s a written admission of guilt, then so much the better – keep hold of it, as it may be crucial evidence in a civil case.Have you been referred to other specialists?
This is another classic sign that the original practitioner has made a mistake, or that they no longer feel confident administering treatment. Of course, there might be perfectly sensible reasons for doing this – if your doctor has attempted a treatment that hasn’t worked, it doesn’t always mean that they’ve been negligent. But it’s certainly reason to investigate further.
