Medical negligence after a delay in treatment is quite a broad category and can result in multiple different cases. So, this guide examines how treatment delays can cause avoidable harm to patients, and when you could be eligible to seek compensation.
Other important areas covered are how compensation is calculated, what evidence you can use to support a potential medical negligence claim and when legal proceedings could be started on behalf of others.
Our final section looks at how our expert solicitors can offer eligible claimants a distinct No Win No Fee contract with some highly desirable benefits.
You can reach the Legal Expert team using the contact information given here. A member of the team can discuss eligibility with you as well as look at how much compensation you could potentially claim:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804.
- You can also contact us online.
- Finally, we operate a live chat service that you can access on all of our pages.
Browse This Page
- Can I Claim For Medical Negligence After A Delay In Treatment?
- What Compensation Could I Get For A Delayed Treatment Claim?
- Will Compensation Help Me To Claim Back The Cost Of Subsequent Treatment?
- How Can Delayed Treatment Be A Result Of Medical Negligence?
- What Is The Longest Amount Of Time I Should Be Waiting For Treatment?
- How Can I Start A Delayed Treatment Compensation Claim?
- No Win No Fee Treatment Delay Claims With Legal Expert
- More Information
Can I Claim For Medical Negligence After A Delay In Treatment?
You can claim for medical negligence after a delay in treatment if you can show that the delay was due to a failure to meet expected standards, and this caused you avoidable harm. All medical professionals, regardless of specialism, experience level or where they practice, have a duty of care to provide their patients with the correct standard of medical care. This is the duty of care that medical professionals owe to their patients.
A duty of care is a legal responsibility for another’s safety or well-being, and timely treatment can be key to ensuring that safety. We have summarised the eligibility criteria here:
- You were owed a duty of care by a medical professional.
- This duty was breached when your treatment was delayed.
- The delay caused you to suffer avoidable harm.
Avoidable harm means any harm you experienced that would not have occurred had the expected standards of care been provided; we’ll look at some examples further down. Remember, our advisory team is available 24 hours a day to take your call and assess your potential claim for free.
Can I Claim For Delayed Treatment Against The NHS?
You certainly can claim for delayed treatment against the NHS. Many of us have reservations about making a claim against the NHS due to concerns about the impact on healthcare services. While understandable, these concerns are unfounded.
NHS Resolution, the division of the NHS that deals with compensation claims, has various compensation schemes that are independent of the budgets for healthcare services. NHS Resolution has published this advice for claimants to assist people in making a claim. Our advisors can also provide further advice on how to claim against the NHS following substandard treatment.
As for private practitioners, they will have their own complaints procedure and methods for dealing with medical negligence claims. Once again, seeking proper legal advice is key to ensuring your claim has the best chance of success.
Claiming On Behalf Of A Loved One Who Experienced A Treatment Delay
Claiming on behalf of a loved one who experienced a treatment delay is only possible where that individual is unable to claim for themselves. Generally, there is a 3 year time limit to claim as set out by the Limitation Act 1980. There are, however, exceptions where someone else may need to start any legal proceedings. These are:
- Children: patients under 18 will have the time limit paused until they reach adulthood, giving them until 21 to start any legal action.
- Persons lacking mental capacity: if someone does not have the capacity to make their own claim, whether due to the harm caused to them or a pre-existing condition, then the time limit is halted indefinitely. In cases where they recover to a sufficient degree, the 3 years are counted from the date of recovery.
If your loved one is under 18 or lacks sufficient mental capacity, then you can apply to act as their litigation friend. It is worth mentioning that litigation friends are not required to be family members; any adult who meets the suitability requirements can act on behalf of another.
What About Fatal Medical Negligence Cases?
If the patient dies due to substandard medical care, then their estate can make a claim for the pain and suffering, as well as any financial losses experienced, prior to their death as per the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934. The estate can also claim on behalf of any dependents.
For the first 6 months after death, the estate has the exclusive right to start a claim, but if no claim has been made for them in the first 6 months, qualifying dependents can make a claim for the impact the death had on them under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.
You can learn about the time limits, if any exceptions apply in your particular case and find out more about claiming on behalf of others by speaking to our advisors today.
What Compensation Could I Get For A Delayed Treatment Claim?
The compensation you could get for a delayed treatment claim is split into 2 different heads of loss, which are:
- General damages: Award compensation for physical and psychological harm caused by the substandard care.
- Special damages: This head of loss compensates for the financial damage you experience. More on this in the next section.
General damages values may be calculated using your medical evidence alongside the guidelines from the Judicial College. Known as the JCG, this publication provides compensation brackets for a wide array of harm. We have used some of these brackets for this table.
Compensation Table
Please note that the top entry is not a JCG figure and that this table has been included to act as guidance only.
| Type of Harm Caused | Severity | Guideline Compensation Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Very Serious Harm with Additional Financial Damage | Very Serious | Up to £1,000,000 and above. |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderate (ii) | £110,720 to £183,190 | |
| Lung Disease | Lung Cancer (b) | £85,460 to £118,790 |
| Worsening Lung Function (c) | £66,890 to £85,460 | |
| Chest Injuries | Some Continuing Disability (c) | £38,210 to £66,920 |
| Relatively Simple Injury (d) | £15,370 to £21,920 | |
| Knee Injuries | Severe (iii) | £31,960 to £53,030 |
| Moderate (i) | £18,110 to £31,960 | |
| Scarring to Other Parts of The Body | No Significant Internal Injury | In the region of £10,550 |
Determining The Compensation Amount
Determining the compensation amount for delayed medical treatment is done through a careful examination of evidence. We already discussed the JCG with your medical records to value the harm caused, but proof of any financial losses will also need to be considered. You can ask our advisors for further guidance using the contact details given below.
Will Compensation Help Me To Claim Back The Cost Of Subsequent Treatment?
The compensation will most certainly help to claim back the cost of the subsequent treatment you receive. Special damages payments cover expenditures such as subsequent, as well as, other costs that are incurred.
As these special damages cover future losses as well, payouts are often much higher than the compensation for the harm itself. Some more examples have been given here:
- Medical costs such as treatment, therapy, medication and rehabilitation.
- Loss of earnings and loss of future earnings if you are unable to work.
- In cases where the patient’s mobility is reduced, accessibility installations to their home, such as ramps, modified showers and additional handrails may be required.
- Domestic support, including preparing meals, washing yourself, cleaning tasks, and childcare, if you cannot do these safely on your own.
- You may also incur transport costs if you cannot drive yourself to and from work or hospital appointments.
You’ll need to prove what costs you have incurred so be sure you hold onto documents such as your payslips, travel tickets and receipts for purchases as evidence of special damages.
Can I Get Interim Payments?
You could get interim payments in certain circumstances. Interim payments are awarded in cases where it is clear that compensation is likely to be awarded but the claimant has immediate costs that they are otherwise unable to afford.
An obvious example would be if your mortgage or rent are due but you have been off work recovering from the negligent treatment and are unable to make the payments. The court can release some compensation early, which is then taken off the total compensation figure.
This section contains a lot of information and while we’ve done our best to be as thorough as possible, we have to stress that this information is intended as guidance only. To find out more about claiming for medical negligence after delayed treatment, talk to our team today.
How Can Delayed Treatment Be A Result Of Medical Negligence?
Examples of how delayed treatment can be a result of medical negligence include:
- Improperly performed scans result in a blood clot being missed. The clot later caused you to experience a stroke that would have occurred had you received a timely diagnosis and treatment.
- A failure to refer you for further testing resulted in your cancer not being detected sooner. As a result of this cancer misdiagnosis, you required multiple rounds of treatment and invasive surgery.
- Administrative errors meant your patient notes were mixed up with another patient’s. This caused your lumbar fracture to be missed, and instead of undergoing surgery, you were prescribed anti-inflammatory medication. Your condition worsened significantly and you had to undergo multiple corrective procedures.
There are, of course, many other circumstances where a treatment delay could occur. You can check if you’re eligible to claim for free by speaking to our advisors today.
What Is The Longest Amount Of Time I Should Be Waiting For Treatment?
The NHS Maximum Waiting Time Standards state that the maximum acceptable waiting period for non-urgent care is 18 weeks. For an urgent cancer referral, this is reduced down to 28 days from referral to diagnosis.
For A&E admissions, this should be no more than 4 hours. If you do not receive treatment within the maximum acceptable waiting period due to the standards of care not being good enough, and this causes you to experience avoidable harm, then you may be eligible to make a claim.
You can talk to one of our advisors today to find out more.
How Can I Start A Delayed Treatment Compensation Claim?
To start a delayed treatment compensation claim, you can talk to our advisors for free legal advice and an eligibility assessment. Another important step is to gather a strong body of supporting evidence.
Evidence examples you could use to support a medical negligence claim include:
- Medical records showing what treatment was delayed, what harm was caused and any subsequent procedures to correct that damage. This could include consultation notes, the results of any tests and surgical reports.
- Check that you have up to date contact information for potential witnesses so they can be reached for a statement during the claims process.
- Proof of financial losses.
- Findings from the Bolam test, if applied.
The Bolam test involves medical professionals from the relevant field examining the level of care you received and determining whether or not the correct standard was met. It’s not used in every case but you can use the findings from this as part of your evidence if it is.
The exact evidence available to you will be influenced by the circumstances of your care. You can talk to our advisory team for further guidance on claiming for medical negligence due to a delay in treatment.
No Win No Fee Treatment Delay Claims With Legal Expert
Legal Expert has considerable experience in handling treatment delay claims and can offer eligible claimants some very desirable No Win No Fee terms. Once our advisors have assessed your eligibility, you’ll be connected with one of our dedicated medical negligence solicitors if you meet the criteria.
The type of contract we can offer eligible claimants is called a Conditional Fee Agreement or CFA. When you claim under these terms, you will benefit from the following:
- No solicitor fees to pay at the start of the claim.
- You will also not be liable for any fees for the solicitor’s services during the claims process itself.
- Lastly, should the claim not succeed, you will not owe any solicitor fees.
As you can see, starting your claim under a CFA comes with very desirable perks, insulating you from spiralling costs as your claim progresses. If you win the case, the solicitor will take a success fee from your compensation. The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 imposes a maximum charge of 25% for the success fee, so most of whatever is paid out is yours to keep.
Contact Our Solicitors
You can get your free assessment at any time by contacting our advisors today. If eligible, you will be connected with a highly experienced solicitor who suits your needs. You can reach the Legal Expert medical negligence team using the contact information given here:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804.
- You can also contact us online.
- Finally, we operate a live chat service that you can access on all of our pages.
More Information
You can read up on other medical negligence claims here:
- Find out more about claiming for an ovarian cancer misdiagnosis with this guide.
- Check the eligibility criteria to claim for a dispensing error at a pharmacy.
- Learn if you could claim for a surgical error and how compensation payouts are calculated.
These external resources have also been included for additional guidance:
- Find out how to raise concerns about a doctor to the General Medical Council (GMC).
- Read the NHS Constitution for England on the government website.
- You can provide feedback and complaints about NHS services here.
Thank you for reading this guide to medical negligence from a delay in treatment. You can get a free eligibility assessment today by using the contact information given above. Our team is available 24/7 to take your call.
