Medical negligence
When a health care provider, such as a doctor, specialist, dentist or hospital fails to treat you to an acceptable standard you may be eligible to may a claim for medical negligence.
It can be more than a medical professional simply making a mistake, or an error in judgement. Negligence is a specific legal concept that relates to the reasonable care provided.
Negligent treatment can include:
There are a number of factors involved in determining whether a claim for medical negligence can be made.
Maddens Lawyers can assess your situation to determine if:
This is an area that is best-served by obtaining specialist legal advice. Time limits can apply and these time limits can vary depending on the state in which the negligence is said to have occurred.
Maddens Lawyers has the experience and specialist knowledge to determine if your claim is likely to be successful.
Frequently asked questions
There are several types of treatments that can help you and your family get through the difficult times that usually follow negligent medical advice or treatment. You could receive compensation for:
Medical and rehabilitation treatment, such as:
- The cost of medical treatment
- The cost of rehabilitation treatment
- Travel to and from treatment
- Home help assistance
Income support if you cannot work
- If your injuries prevent you returning to work, you may be able t cover any income you may lose as a result
One payment to cover permanent injuries
- A lump sum payment can be paid if you have suffered a permanent injury
Out of pocket expenses
- This can include any changes or modifications you have or will need to make to your home environment in order to accommodate your injury or condition.
Additional medical assistance
- Domestic or nursing assistance required as a result of the injury may be covered
Pain, suffering and distress
- If your injury has or does cause ongoing pan or distress, or loss of enjoyment of life.
- This is another area where an experienced lawyer is necessary if you are to investigate this type of benefit; there are a lot of guidelines and requirements that must be met or followed.
How much money can be awarded?
That will always depend on your circumstances. There are maximum amounts payable, depending on the injury and the pain and suffering it has caused.
Maddens Lawyers’ accredited personal injury specialist will be able to discuss your personal situation with you and provide advice on what you may be entitled to.
We pride ourselves on securing compensation that fairly and adequately covers a clients’ medical costs and pain and suffering.
Maddens Lawyers understands that people with average incomes may not be able to afford to meet the costs of starting legal action while they wait for a medical negligence payout, particularly if they have been unable to work due to an illness or injury.
This is why we have a ‘no result-no charge’ policy. This means that if we believe we can win a medical negligence claim on your behalf, we will consider holding off charging you for our time until there’s a settlement or decision on your case.
This means that if you don’t win a case that we said we’d fund, you won’t have to pay our professional fees.
Consider it an example of us putting our money where our mouth is.
There are conditions to this policy – for example, it doesn’t apply to out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost to get reports from medical experts, or court fees.
But we can explain all this to you at your first appointment – which is also free.
Rest assured that before we start any work, we will explain to you in detail:
- How fees are calculated
- What it will cost to put your case together
- Costs that may come up during your case
- What you may recover, or need to pay, to others involved in your case
No. There are laws that prevent this, not to mention our own moral code. Our aim is to ensure you receive all that you are entitled to.
That’s not to say that you won’t need to cover some additional legal costs. But we will make sure we inform you of this from the start, and keep you updated as the case goes on.
In many successful cases, a portion of your legal costs may be recovered from the other party.
While we can’t give you a guarantee that you won’t be ordered to pay the other party’s costs, this doesn’t happen very often.
We pay close attention to how the case is progressing so that we can assess if you may be at risk of having to pay the other party’s costs.
Your best first step is to seek independent legal advice. Maddens Lawyers can provide you with a fair and accurate assessment of your situation so you have a good idea of where you stand.