Lawyers who specialise in clinical negligence will know that putting their clients through the formal court process isn't something to be undertaken lightly. It can be emotionally gruelling and often it takes far too long. Our clients have suffered injury and loss through no fault of their own but the law means they have to prove their claim every step of the way. That is right - people shouldn't be able to bring compensation claims simply because something untoward happened - there must have been negligence and the financial losses must be substantiated. But even when everything can be proven, the delays and attitude taken by the opponent can be exhausting. The system must be fair to everyone involved, including the NHS and the medical professionals involved in the patient's care. Nevertheless, the reality is that getting justice and fair compensation can feel like a mountain to climb.

However, there are ways specialist clinical negligence lawyers can help clients through this with a little less stress and a little more speed. NHS Resolution (the body behind the NHS which deals with legal claims) are taking a more collaborative approach, which helps with this. The NHS Resolution annual report for 2023/24 emphasises their strategy aspires to ‘keep patients and healthcare staff out of court’ and in 2023/24, they report that 81% of claims in England were resolved without resorting to legal proceedings. There are now numerous options to achieve a fair outcome without going to court, including mediation, early neutral evaluation, arbitration, joint settlement meetings and Part 36 offers. There's no one best option and sometimes none of these options are the right thing for an individual but it's always best to consider what might be possible. 

In the vast majority of our cases, we secure successful and fair outcomes for our clients without having to go to court. Just a few examples: when an out-of-hours service missed an infection, when A&E missed sepsis and when a baby suffered a brain injury because of errors during labour. 

If you have been affected by clinical negligence or feel something about the medical care you received wasn't quite right, please contact me to discuss your options, without any obligation or charge.