Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre Medical Negligence – No Win No Fee Claims
Generally, when we visit medical professionals at a practice, such as a Hemel Hempstead walk-in centre, we receive the treatment we need. But what would happen if medical negligence was present and caused a patient harm?
Medical negligence could happen when a medical professional provides a standard of care that is below their professional level. This poor standard of medical care can cause a patient further harm. Harm they could have avoided.
Avoidable harm due to medical negligence, could entitle you to make a claim for compensation. We’ve put this guide together to inform you of how this process works as well as what medical negligence is.
The assistance we can offer you doesn’t end with this guide. We can also provide you with the support of our advisors. They’re available 24/7 and give free legal advice. If you have a solid claim, they could connect you with our lawyers.
Our lawyers are experienced professionals who are committed to trying to get you the right amount of compensation possible for your claim. If you would like to know more about whether or not you could be entitled to make a claim with their support, please call 0800 073 8804 or use our live chat for instant answers.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Medical Negligence Claims Against A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre
- What Could Be Classed As Negligence At A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre?
- Walk-In Medical And Healthcare Centres In Hemel Hempstead
- What Treatments Do Walk-In Centres Offer?
- Negligent Care Of An Injury At Walk-In Clinics
- What Is Negligent Care Of Illnesses At Walk-In Clinics?
- Negligent Reproductive Health At Walk-In Clinics
- Negligent Use Of Medications At Walk-In Clinics
- Calculate Compensation For Medical Negligence Claims Against A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre
- No Win No Fee Solicitors For Medical Negligence At A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre
- Contact An Expert
- Related Guides
A Guide To Medical Negligence Claims Against A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre
This guide is aimed at people who believe that they may have been the victim of medical negligence. To help inform you if you are in this position, we will explain what kind of situations in which medical negligence could arise and what constitutes grounds for making a compensation claim.
We will also explain some of the factors that you should know if you do attempt to begin a claim, such as how your compensation will be calculated, with the aid of our compensation table. We also discuss No WIn No Fee claims.
If there is anything that this guide hasn’t covered in enough detail for you, or if you wish to speak to our advisors, you can contact us through the contact details provided at the top and bottom of this article. Our advisors give free legal advice about compensation claims.
What Could Be Classed As Negligence At A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre?
All medical professionals have to meet the minimum standard of care for patients when treating them. This applies in walk-in centres just as much as it does in GP surgeries and hospitals.
Healthcare practitioners in the NHS and in the private sector are equally beholden to provide adequate care for their patients. This is important because the NHS doesn’t provide all walk-in centre services. There are some independent sector companies involved.
Providing substandard care that causes someone avoidable and unnecessary harm and suffering could constitute medical negligence or clinical negligence. Medical negligence can cause a patient harm and can expose that patient to significant health risks even when the issue the patient was initially seeking treatment for was minor.
It’s important to note that there can be expected and understandable levels of pain and suffering regarding healthcare. What’s more, an error (such as a prescription mistake) won’t necessarily lead to you suffering further or prolonged avoidable pain or suffering. Therefore, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to claim. However, you could claim for unnecessary pain and suffering if you can prove it was caused by medical negligence.
The types of medical negligence that could lead to a claim include those where other healthcare practitioners would’ve made a different decision that would’ve avoided the exacerbation or cause of your injuries or illness.
If you have been the victim of medical negligence, you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Walk-In Medical And Healthcare Centres In Hemel Hempstead
There are two hospitals that offer walk-in clinic services in and around Hemel Hempstead. One is Hemel Hempstead Hospital, the other is St Albans City Hospital. You can find out more about these urgent care services if you need to.
What Treatments Do Walk-In Centres Offer?
A Hemel Hempstead walk-in centre can serve a number of different roles and provide a number of different services. These services can vary from one walk-in centre to another. There are different types of walk-in clinics. These include urgent treatment centres, minor injuries units and urgent care centres.
A walk-in centre can offer you treatment for illnesses and injuries that require treatment but do not warrant the services of a hospital or an ambulance. They can also sometimes offer the same services as a GP, but without having to register with one or wait for an appointment to be made.
If you aren’t sure whether or not you should take your injury or illness to a hospital or a walk-in centre, you can check which one you could visit.
Negligent Care Of An Injury At Walk-In Clinics
If you are suffering from a sprain or strain you may opt to visit a walk-in centre rather than a hospital to have your injury treated. This means that going to a walk-in centre is an option if you have suffered a minor injury that needs to be looked at by a healthcare professional as soon as possible but does not necessitate going to A&E.
The kinds of injuries that can be brought to a walk-in centre include:
- Sprains and strains
- Grazes and cuts
- Insect bites and stings
- Minor burns or scalds
Even if an injury is minor, doctors should still make sure that they treat it properly according to the minimum standard expected of medical professionals. Failing to meet these standards could cause a patient to endure unnecessary and avoidable prolonged suffering. Alternatively, it could cause them to experience a worse injury or health problem than that which they went to a walk-in centre with in the first place.
Some of the consequences of medical negligence when diagnosing or treating an injury could potentially include:
- Failing to diagnose an injury correctly, despite clear symptoms, leading to prolonged, unnecessary suffering.
- Failure to treat the injury correctly through negligence, causing the symptoms to worsen or last longer than they should.
- Failing to treat the injury correctly due to negligence, directly causing avoidable harm to the patient, for example performing substandard stitching on a laceration resulting in scarring.
If you suffered due to medical negligence at a Hemel Hempstead walk-in centre please get in touch with us if you would like to know more information. We can provide free advice about how to make a compensation claim for an injury that has been made worse by medical negligence.
What Is Negligent Care Of Illnesses At Walk-In Clinics?
Illnesses that are not posing an imminent threat to your wellbeing but still require some treatment can also be taken to walk-in centres. Minor illnesses can include:
- Skin issues, like rashes
- Stomach bugs causing pain, vomiting or constipation
- Headaches
- Chest infections, ear infections and eye infections
Many illnesses like these may need medication such as painkillers and antibiotics in order to allow the illness to pass, so it is important that you check before you visit the walk-in centre that a prescribing nurse is present or a doctor. Some walk-in centres are nurse-led and cannot prescribe medication.
There are also more serious implications to misdiagnosing an illness. What seems like a minor illness could actually turn out to be the symptoms of something more dangerous. Negligently mistaking this for a minor illness could put the patient’s health at serious risk.
Negligent Reproductive Health At Walk-In Clinics
Sexual and reproductive health is so important that testing and treatment related to it is offered at many walk-in centres. Important services provided by sexual health walk-in centres include:
- HIV tests
- STI tests
- Pregnancy tests
- Access to contraceptives, i.e. condoms or contraceptive pills
Providing these services correctly can be very important for the patient’s health. A negligent, incorrect diagnosis of an STI could lead to the worsening of an illness and long-term damage.
Negligently misdiagnosing an issue with pregnancy could cause the baby and the mother to suffer severe health problems, potentially leading to birth injuries.
Negligent Use Of Medications At Walk-In Clinics
In some walk-in centres, you can receive prescriptions and medication. Providing a patient with prescriptions and medication is a weighty responsibility. Healthcare practitioners should make sure that the medication they are providing is right for their patients. If they don’t do this, they could be putting their patients at risk.
Wrong medication or incorrect prescriptions could put the patient in danger of a number of different health hazards including:
- Overdoses
- Clashes with the medication and those the patient is already taking, which causes a reaction.
- A wrong dosage that is too low to effectively treat the health condition, so the condition gets worse.
- Drugs that are incorrect for treating the illness, and cause severe side effects.
For information on how to claim compensation for unnecessary and avoidable harm caused by an incorrect prescription given to you by a doctor, get in touch today.
Calculate Compensation For A Medical Negligence Claim Against A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre
The amount of compensation you could be entitled to depend on the scale of the effects of medical negligence. More compensation could be awarded for more severe effects.
Compensation can be divided into two heads of claim: special damages and general damages.
General Damages
General damages compensate you for the psychological and physical harm you’ve suffered due to the medical negligence. For example, calculations for general damages may take into consideration:
- The amount of pain and suffering you have experienced.
- The length of time you have taken to recover, or are expected to take to recover.
- Any permanent health issues or disfigurements resulting from the injuries.
- The degree of emotional distress and trauma you have experienced.
Below, we have created a compensation table to give you an impression of the amounts that can be involved.
The figures come from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a publication that legal professionals may use to help them value injuries.
| Injury | Severity | Comments | Potential Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-traumatic Injury | (i) Severe toxicosis causing serious pain | Hospital admission lasting weeks or days and some continuing symptoms. | £36,060 to £49,270 |
| Illness/Damage Resulting from Non-traumatic Injury | (iv) Varying degrees of disabling pain | Symptoms last for weeks or days. | Up to £3,710 |
| Facial Disfigurement | (d) Less Significant Scarring | One scar that can be camouflaged or a number of small scars. | £3,710 to £12,900 |
| Dermatitis/eczema/ psoriasis of the hands | (a) Dermatitis of both hands | Lasting for years and maybe even longer. | £12,900 to £18,020 |
| Injuries Affecting Sight | (h) Minor Eye Injuries | Minor injuries such as being struck in the eye. | £3,710 to £8,200 |
| Deafness/Tinnitus | (c) Total Loss of Hearing in One Ear | Associated problems such as tinnitus would fall toward the higher end of the bracket. | £29,380 to £42,730 |
| Impairment of Taste and Smell | (a) Total Loss of Taste and Smell | Loss of taste and smell totally. | In the region of £36,770 |
To prove general damages, you’d attend a medical assessment as part of the claims process. An independent medical professional would create a report after assessing your injuries. The aims of the report are:
- To show the severity of your injuries.
- To prove that your injuries were caused or exacerbated by medical negligence. (If the medical professional finds that there’s no relation between your injuries and medical negligence, you could find it difficult to claim.)
If you use the services of a solicitor to claim, they could use this report to help them when valuing your injuries.
Special Damages
Special damages compensate you for financial losses caused by your injuries. For example, you could claim for:
- Loss of earnings while you recovered from your injuries.
- Care costs (if you paid for extra help at home or your family provided gracious care, for example)
- Travel expenses caused by your injuries (such as the cost of travelling to and from hospital appointments)
In order to claim for these, you’d need to provide evidence. For instance, this could come in the form of receipts, bills or bank statements.
For an accurate and free estimate of what you could claim, why not reach out to our advisors?
No Win No Fee Solicitors For Medical Negligence At A Hemel Hempstead Walk-In Centre
When you’re looking for a solicitor, you may be concerned about funding their services. That’s where a No Win No Fee agreement can help. A solicitor who makes a No Win No Fee agreement with you won’t:
- Charge you upfront solicitor fees.
- Make you pay ongoing solicitor fees.
- Ask you to pay the solicitor fees if the case is unsuccessful.
In fact, if your claim fails under a No Win No Fee agreement, you wouldn’t pay any solicitor fees at all.
If your claim is successful, the solicitor would have access to a ‘success fee’. This is a small percentage of the compensation. What’s more, it’s capped by law and would only be collected after the compensation comes through. You’d also know the percentage before claiming because it would be listed in the No Win No Fee agreement.
Our solicitors offer No Win No Fee agreements for all claims they take on. Get in touch with our advisors if you’d like more information.
Contact An Expert
We hope this guide has helped you. If you need anything more, get in touch.
Our advisors are available 24/7 and give free legal advice. They could also connect you with our solicitors if you have a solid claim. However, you’ll be under no obligation to proceed with these services if you don’t want to. So why not get in touch?
- Call us on 0800 073 8804 to chat with an advisor.
- Use our claim online form to get a callback at a time best for you.
- Use our live chat to get instant online answers from an expert advisor.
Related Guides
These guides could help if you’re looking for extra information about walk-in centres.
An NHS guide to getting out-of-hours medicines
Find walk-in centre services near you
We also have our own guides relating to medical negligence claims:
- Medical negligence resulting in death
- Hospital negligence claims
- Misdiagnosis of cancer
- Knee Surgery Gone Wrong Claims Guide
- Rotavirus Compensation Claims Explained
- Liverpool Walk-In Centre Medical Negligence Claims
- Spire Healthcare Negligence Claims Guide
Thanks for reading our guide exploring what you could do if medical negligence occurred at a Hemel Hempstead walk-in centre.
Written by Yates
Edited by Victorine
