We know that the NHS is stretched thin in many areas but this is no excuse to be let down in your hour of need.
As specialist personal injury lawyers we represent high volumes of medical negligence victims and many cases involve the failings of the accident and emergency departments. It’s important for you to know that you have rights if something has gone wrong as a result of an A&E visit.
When you can claim
If you haven’t been referred or treated correctly, or where you have been misdiagnosed, you have the right to make a claim for personal injury compensation if you have suffered unreasonably as a result. Common errors that lead to claims are where staff fail to properly diagnose a patient and they are not referred or are not put on the correct course of treatment.
Examples can be:
- Failure to diagnose a fracture
- Failure identify the seriousness of an injury or condition where a delay results in complications
- Failure to refer to a specialists where symptoms are difficult to immediately diagnose
- Discharge without proper advice or treatment resulting in complication or undue suffering
Whilst sometimes certain injuries or conditions cannot always be diagnosed immediately, the follow up needs to ensure that you are properly looked after. If this isn’t done correctly you can end up with serious complications where injuries or conditions re not treated quickly enough.
Having to suffer unnecessarily due to a failure is also something that can be claimed as well.
A common issue
News headlines are often full of stories about stretched accident and emergency departments that are failing to meet waiting time targets. I’ve had two visits to accident and emergency myself in the last 10 years and on both occasions I wasn’t very happy. I was all but accused on my first visit that I was merely vying for a sick note to get off work after a foot injury playing tennis. Ironically I was a student – so work wasn’t an issue. I was discharged without crutches and had to hop around for 4 days. Minor, but annoying.
The second I was diagnosed with a minor chip on the bone after a four hour wait and an x-ray. The next day I was being informed I would need several surgeries for serious ligament damage and nerve damage in the knee. So whilst I was correctly referred for an orthopaedic appointment the next day, my concern was just how badly they missed what turned out to be a very obvious diagnosis. The nurse the next day took less than 10 seconds to tell me what I’d done. The A&E staff told me I wouldn’t need a single operation and I’d be right as rain in 6 weeks.
So the point of that was just to demonstrate the common problems. Where people are let down and it leads to further injury or undue suffering, you have the right to claim.
Just call 0800 634 7575 for specialist advice today.
