Everyone has the right to a high standard of medical care, whether that care comes from the NHS, a private health company or MOD medical staff. Most of the time, doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are excellent at their jobs and offer some of the best care in the world.
However, medical negligence does occur occasionally. If you are a member of the armed services and think you have suffered from a medical error, you may well be entitled to make a military medical compensation claim.
What is medical negligence?
Medical negligence [often referred to as clinical negligence] occurs when a medical professional fails in their duty of care to you and fails to carry out the level of care expected of a qualified professional. If you are serving in the UK Armed Forces and you received wrong or inadequate medical treatment, you could be able claim compensation – whether or not your original injury or illness resulted from a military exercise.
This could include:
• Missing or lost medical records
• Surgical errors resulting in injury
• Failure to notice symptoms or carry out appropriate tests [click here to read more about Military Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Claims]
• Failure to detect abnormalities or problems raised in your test results
• Misdiagnosis of any illness or injury
• The wrong medication being prescribed to you
• Being subject to improper procedures or defective medical products
• Medical errors leading to death
Military Medical Negligence – what steps should I take?
If you think you have been the victim of a medical accident, you need specialist legal advice. Our team of accident claim lawyers specialise in Armed Forces medical negligence and have the experience and expertise to help you with claiming the compensation you deserve.
Since the majority of these medical claims fall into the bracket of personal injury, you need to start the claims process within 3 years of the incident occurring.
You will also need to prove not only that the Doctor or other medical professional treating you has been negligent, but also that their actions, or failure to act, has caused your current condition. These means you are likely to require an independent medical testimony to back up your claim. The medical professional in question will also have the chance to put forward their own evidence in their defence if they wish.
If you win your case, you should be awarded injury compensation. This is usually calculated according to your loss of earnings and any extra costs incurred as a result of the incident.
Military Medical Negligence – How will my Lawyer help?
Suffering injuries through a medical error is always distressing when it happens, and it can be even more so in a military situation. Your lawyer will be able to guide you through the process, carrying out much of the work for you and helping you to prove your case.
There are also strict time limits that need to be adhered to in medical compensation cases, so your lawyer will be able to help with this. Plus, a lawyer with experience of military matters will be in a good position to help you with your specific circumstances and deal with the MOD if necessary.
Military Medical Negligence –why choose us?
Put simply we are specialists in both medical negligence claims and acting for the military. We are;
- Forces Law members – Forces Law is a nationwide organisation of 18 specialist military law firms
- Members of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel
We are also only one of approximately 120 law firms in England and Wales to have a Legal Services Commission Franchise for medical compensation claims [although from April 2013, legal aid for medical negligence claims has been restricted to a limited number of birth injury claims only].
Considering a Military Medical Negligence Claim? Contact us today
Our specialist Medical Compensation Lawyers can provide the legal representation you need.
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- Call our team locally on [01722] 422300 or on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 for FREE phone advice and a FREE first interview or
- E-mail our team using the contact form below