Clinical negligence occurs when a clinician has negligently breached their duty owed to you and caused a loss. Examples include surgery, dentistry or where you have been incorrectly diagnosed. In addition to these examples, clinical negligence can occur in regard to things which should NOT have been done. For instance, if incorrect medication has been prescribed or the treatment which you have received has been incorrect.
If this has happened to you, you may be able to claim for compensation.
Who can be clinically negligent?
Although in this country many people take advantage of our National Health Service, private hospitals have the same duty of care owed to their patients as the NHS.
It is not only the treating doctors who could be found to have been clinically negligent, but also the hospital as a whole and the staff, such as the ambulance members and nurses. Hospitals may be liable as well as the doctors but also for the training of their staff and the cleanliness of the hospital itself.
How do I know if it’s clinical negligence?
One test is where a clinician has not acted in accordance with that accepted practice which has been accepted by a responsible body of medical men, as laid down in Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee. This effectively means that if the medical professional was carrying out standard practice, it is unlikely that they will have been negligent.
In rarer and more complex cases a further test has been established which the court may use to decide clinical negligence. The test in Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority gave the court the authority to decide what is acceptable and then there is a requirement that any expert opinion relied upon must be “responsible, reasonable and respectable”.
How can I be sure that it was clinical negligence?
To know if a clinician caused the injury, it has to be established that you would not have suffered the injury if the clinician had not been negligent. This means that the negligent act caused the injury and you would not have had an injury otherwise.
What if I was not warned of the risks?
If a risk can be foreseen a duty is placed upon treating clinicians to warn the patients. In Chester v Afshar the court decided that when inadequate warning has been given and the Claimant cannot say that he or she would have definitely declined the treatment, this will satisfy whether the clinician has caused your injury.
