No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims

In most medical negligence cases you can claim for free and keep all of your compensation and pay nothing if you win or lose.

UK Medical Negligence Claim Specialists

We have specialist Medical Negligence Claim Solicitors ready and waiting to help you across the UK.

Not Sure What To Do?

Simply call us or complete the quick enquiry on the right and let us explain your legal rights and your options (at no cost to you and no obligation).

Are medical blunders by the NHS on the rise?

While a report suggests that the number of cases of clinical negligence has risen to over half a million per year, further evidence suggests that these figures are just the tip of a much larger iceberg. The amount spent on clinical negligence compensation claims had risen accordingly, according to a separate report by the NHS Litigation Authority, with the amount paid out by the NHS in 2008/2009 around £661 million. Their figures for 2009/2010 show an increase of around 11% to an estimated £807 million.

The report by the ‘Dr. Foster Hospital Guide’ reveals that there have been an increase in the number of deaths and medical blunders in 19 NHS trusts across the UK. This guide has collected data from the Department of Health and the Office for National Statistics to uncover 620,800 medical mistakes, just under half of which have been determined as avoidable blood clots. That’s a higher figure than the number of deaths attributable to hospital superbugs. In addition, the report found that 13,000 mothers suffered obstetric tears whilst giving birth, there were 10,000 instances of accidental laceration and punctures, 1,300 instances of post-operative blood poisoning, 56 patients received surgery in the wrong place and 150 patients were left with foreign objects inside them after medical procedures.

A terrifying catalogue of mistakes

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) believes that the actual figures could be much higher. Based on evidence from the NHS trusts, PAC estimates that there are a further 250,000 cases that either go unreported or are not recorded properly. PAC Chairman, Edward Leigh, said: “These statistics would be terrifying enough without our learning that there is undoubtedly substantial under-reporting of serious incidents and deaths. To top it all, the NHS simply has no idea how many people die each year from patient safety incidents.” In addition, Mr. Leigh suggested that the NHS was failing on a “staggering scale” to learn from previous experience. “Around 50% of all actual incidents might have been avoided if NHS staff had learned lessons from previous ones”.

Injection of urgency

Peter Walsh, Chairman of the charity, Action Against Medical Accidents, has lent his support to the Dr. Foster’s report, believing that the NHS needs an “injection of urgency” to improve the safety of patients: “The scary thing is we cannot have any degree of confidence that things are getting any better. We want to see more teeth given to existing guidelines and safety alerts - it should be compulsory for NHS providers to implement them. It will come as a shock to many that some safety alerts are more or less ignored by NHS trusts, and there is patchy compliance with guidance on reporting incidents and being open with patients when things go wrong”.

A drive was launched by the Labour Government in 2000 to improve patient safety, when the Chief Medical Officer issued a report saying one in 10 hospital patients was unintentionally harmed each year, costing the NHS £2billion in extra bed days and £400million in settled clinical negligence claims. With the coalition Government ordering a reshuffle of the NHS’ infrastructure, many are wondering whether the number of compensation claims will rise even more in the years to come.

Back to Medical Negligence Articles

FREE GUIDE - 7 Questions You Must Ask Before Choosing Your Medical Negligence Solicitor

If you believe you have been the victim of an act of medical or clinical negligence you need our free guide which answers all of the questions that you need answers to before deciding to make a claim, including:

• What are the costs of making a claim for compensation
• The reasons you should or should not make a claim, including protecting other patients
• Whether using a solicitor or a claims company will make a difference to the success of your claim
• The questions you must ask to ensure you choose the right person to help you with your claim

Before you take any further action, take five minutes to read our free guide so that when you do pick up the telephone or fill in an online enquiry form, you know exactly the questions you need to ask to find the right medical negligence claim solicitor for you.

Share This Article With:

• Tweet This
• Delicious
• Digg
• reddit
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

If you would like 1stClaims’ expert Medical Negligence Solicitors on your side please call us free on 0800 2888 693 or complete our Free Claim Enquiry form now and we will be in touch with you very soon.

Remember, all initial enquiries are completely free of charge and we will investigate all funding options for you.

We are here to help you from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday,
8.30am to 6pm on Saturday and 9am to 6pm on Sundays.

1stClaims is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities: Number CRM15909. This registration is recorded on the website www.claimsregulation.gov.uk

“We comply, where applicable, with the SRA Code of Conduct 2011 published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and any solicitor [or registered European lawyer] to whom we may refer you is an independent professional from whom you will receive impartial and confidential advice. You are free to choose another solicitor [or registered European lawyer]"

1stClaims Limited - Registered in England and Wales - Reg. Co. No. 06566866. Registered Office Address: First Floor Offices, 119 Station Road, Nailsea, Bristol BS48 1TA - VAT Reg. No. 938 1976 76