Critical Illness and Income Protection insurance are both effective ways to safeguard against the financial insecurity which often accompanies being diagnosed with a serious illness. But if the treatment or surgery used to treat that illness goes wrong, the result can disrupt even the best-laid plans. If this happens, you may need to consider a claim for medical negligence.
Life-Changing Injuries
The UK has a healthcare system which provides some of the best medicine in the world.
Unfortunately, even with the greatest care, mistakes can still occur. Medical negligence can result in life-changing injuries which require for example specialist care, equipment, rehabilitation, and a need for housing which has been specially adapted for the person who has been injured.
Sensationalist tabloid headlines might suggest that successful litigation is taking funds from NHS frontline care, but the reality is that for the average” family, bringing a successful claim is often the only way in which a suitable level of care provision can be obtained, with NHS funded services being too stretched to provide the required support. A successful claim can also recover compensation for loss of earnings, and interim payments may be available to help ease the financial strain when being unable to work.
Financial Security
A compensation award can never completely negate the effects of medical negligence but can provide the money needed to significantly improve an injured person’s life and potentially that of their family.
For example, compensation can be used to fund a private, professional and highly trained care package for the injured person, so allowing family members to revert back to being a husband/wife/mother/father etc rather than a carer. This can often greatly reduce stress on family dynamics and improve matters for all concerned.
Monitoring Patient Safeguards
Too often mistakes are not due to lack of skill, but instead because procedures and systems put in place to safeguard patients are not effective. When the NHS introduced its Duty of Candour policy in 2015, it was with the express aim of “owning up” to mistakes when they occur and using this data to ensure that they do not happen again.
Sadly this does not always occur, and often the best way to bring attention to a failure within the system is still via a legal claim. Bringing a claim can have the dual benefit of obtaining financial security for the injured person, and changing hospital systems to reduce the chance of any other person suffering in the same way in the future.
This article was provided by Enable Law which has the South West’s largest dedicated Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Team.
If you have any concerns about your medical care Enable Law are happy to speak to you on a free no obligation basis to provide preliminary advice on bringing a claim and prospects of success.
