All medical procedures and operations carry some risk and, while the majority of the time these go according to plan, occasionally surgical mistakes are made.
Surgical errors can be devastating, with many causing not only physical suffering but emotional and financial suffering too. At Ashtons Legal, we will help you get back on your feet. We will do our best to ensure that you receive appropriate compensation in circumstances where you have been injured as a result of medical negligence.
Our medical negligence lawyers will do everything they can in order to obtain financial compensation for you. We know that no amount of money will undo the mistakes that have been made, but we hope that receiving compensation for injuries sustained as a result of surgical negligence will ease the financial burden that may have been placed on you as a result.
We understand that you may be feeling confused and angry about how such a devastating error could have been made. This is why our lawyers fully commit to helping clients get the answers and apology that they so deserve.
If you feel that errors were made during an operation you had, or during an operation of a loved one, then you may be able to claim compensation.
Our surgical negligence solicitors can offer you:
- A free initial consultation on your claim
- No win, no fee funding
- A negotiation-led approach that means most claims are settled out of court
- Independently accredited expertise you can trust
- A very high track record of successful claims
- A sensitive, personal service to support you during this difficult time
- A free rehabilitation service to aid your or your loved one’s recovery.
Have a question about surgical negligence claims? Please take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions About Surgical Negligence Claims or get in touch and we will be happy to guide you.
Contact our Surgical Negligence Claims Solicitors
To make a surgical negligence claim, please contact our experienced surgical negligence solicitors. You will be offered a free initial consultation to sensitively discuss the particulars of your case and plan the potential next steps.
Get in touch by calling 0330 191 4774, emailing us at enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk or filling in the enquiry form on the right-hand side of our contact page.
Ashtons Legal Medical Negligence Team
At Ashtons Legal, our experienced team has worked with many clients with a range of surgical negligence claims. We have high success rates for both straightforward and challenging cases and can provide thoughtful and straightforward support to ensure you get the compensation you deserve.
Working with Ashtons Legal means that you will be assisted by highly qualified legal specialists who are eager to give you the support you need.
The senior members of our team are recognised as Senior Fellows or Senior Litigators by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). Additionally, they are on the Law Society Clinical Negligence panel, with our Head of Medical Negligence, Sharon Allison, also belonging to the Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) Clinical Negligence Panel.
What Constitutes Surgical Negligence?
Surgical negligence describes inadequate care provided by medical professionals during an operation that causes further injuries or complications. Our medical negligence solicitors have successfully handled an extensive variety of surgical cases.
They have helped people when a surgeon or medical professional:
- Did not explain the potential risks of an operation
- Did not check that a patient was eligible for an operation
- Performed the incorrect operation
- Performed the operation on the wrong part of the body
- Left a foreign object inside the body
- Did not comply with hygiene standards which, as a result, caused the patient to develop an infection
- Operated with poor surgical technique leading to organ, nerve, or tissue damage
- Used the wrong amount of anaesthetic.
Surgical Negligence Claims Case Studies
- £250,000 settlement for a first-time mother following negligent surgery to repair a 4th degree tear
- £785,000 obtained for widow and three children following death of husband after failures in post neurosurgery care
- £50,000 obtained for woman following negligent hysterectomy operation
- Five figure settlement obtained after negligent cataract surgery led to vision loss
- Five-figure settlement obtained following negligent circumcision operation
How to Make a Claim for Surgical Negligence
If a mistake was made during your operation that caused you further injuries or complications, then you may well be entitled to compensation. At Ashtons Legal, we will guide you through the claim process and help you with any questions or concerns you may have along the way.
In order for your claim to be successful, at some point, you will have to prove that the surgical error has caused you to suffer pain or has caused you further medical complications. If there is a problem with this for any reason, please feel free to get in touch with us today, and we will advise you on what to do next.
Our Surgical Negligence Claims Compensation Service
Assessing Your Surgical Negligence Claim
If you decide to make a surgical negligence claim, the first thing that you need to do is to get in contact with our medical negligence lawyers. Our team will assess all the details of your case, and together, we will discuss how the surgical error occurred and the effects it has had on your life.
Following this discussion, we can let you know if we believe your claim has a reasonable prospect of succeeding and, if so, the options available to you.
Building Your Surgical Negligence Case
The next step is to start gathering evidence and witness statements. Our solicitors will speak to medical experts and take a look at your medical records in order to fully understand the situation as well as any injuries or losses you have sustained as a result.
Once we have reviewed your records, we will take a detailed statement from you so that there is a record of your version of events. In addition, we will instruct medical experts to comment on the standard of care you received and the impact this has had on your outcome.
Submitting the Letter of Claim
If the medical evidence is supportive of a claim for surgical negligence, we will submit a Letter of Claim to the Defendant. The Letter of Claim will set out the allegations of surgical negligence in detail and the impact that the negligence has had on your life.
Following this, the Defendant will have five months to respond and either contest the claim or accept responsibility.
If the Defendant contests the claim, your claim and the defendant’s denial will need to be reviewed by our experts. If our experts maintain their position and remain of the view that there has been surgical negligence, proceedings will be issued in Court. Generally, there will be no need to go to trial but, in some instances, this may be necessary.
If the Defendant admits there has been surgical negligence, our solicitors will begin to value your surgical negligence case and work to negotiate a settlement on your behalf to reflect the injuries and losses that you have sustained.
The Mediation Processes
In the event that the Defendant admits to surgical negligence, mediation or arbitration may be used in order to negotiate a settlement. Our solicitors at Ashtons Legal have a high success rate of securing a large amount of compensation when settling medical negligence cases for our clients.
Court Processes
If mediation cannot be used to reach a settlement agreement, it may be necessary to take your case to trial. In this instance, our solicitors will be on hand to provide support and excellent representation to ensure that your case is settled as quickly as possible.
Free Rehabilitation Service
Sometimes our clients have ongoing needs regarding their health. Our understanding and supportive solicitors work closely with our rehabilitation team, who can provide free rehab services for any clients who may need them.
We can provide access to health care, additional support, and rehabilitation before our clients have access to interim damages, ensuring that our clients are taken care of from the start. These services are available whether your surgical negligence claim is successful or not.
Contact our team at Ashtons Legal today for more information.
Surgical Negligence Compensation Claims Fees
‘No Win No Fee’ Surgical Negligence Claims
In order to make our services available to everyone, Ashtons Legal is proud to offer a no win, no fee option for surgical negligence claims. This means that unless your claim is successful, we will not require you to contribute to your legal fees.
Frequently Asked Questions About Surgical Negligence Claims
What can compensation pay for?
Although receiving compensation won’t fix the mistakes that have been made or make them any more acceptable, it can help lessen the burden that they may have on your everyday life. Compensation can cover any medical and rehabilitation expenses and can compensate for any money that has been lost if you have been unable to work due to your injuries.
What should I do if my operation went wrong?
Across England, over 10 million operations are performed every year.
The majority of these operations will be successful; however, there is always a chance that a surgical mistake will be made during the procedure.
In the event that a negligent mistake is made during the operation that causes an individual physical, mental or financial harm, it is considered medical negligence.
In this instance, the first thing you should do is contact a medical negligence solicitor so that you fully understand your rights and how to proceed. Following this, the hospital should start an investigation into the negligent care. During this process, you should be able to gather evidence of surgical negligence in order to make your claim.
If you or your family wish to make a compensation claim due to medical negligence during an operation, it’s important to have the necessary proof and legal assistance. A solicitor can guide you through the claims process and give you a better chance of making a successful surgical compensation claim.
What happens when a surgeon makes a mistake?
In the event that a surgeon makes a mistake during an operation, it is reasonable for you to insist that the surgeon is not allowed to operate on you again in the future and request that any future operation to correct the error be done by a different surgeon.
When these mistakes occur, it is often the case that some patients lose faith and trust in the hospital. In some situations, the patient may not feel comfortable having another operation at the same hospital and may request to be moved elsewhere.
If the patient or the patient’s family feel like the surgical error has caused them to suffer an injury or a worse outcome, they may wish to start a compensation claim due to surgical negligence.
How long after an operation can I make a claim for negligence?
After suffering from an operation that has gone wrong, the patient will have three years from the date of the surgery to make a compensation claim.
This can change depending on the situation. For instance, if the mistake was only discovered at a later date, the patient will have three years from the date you learned that the operation caused you further injury to make a claim.
Where a surgical error occurs when operating on a child, the parents of the child will have until the child turns 18 to bring a claim on the child’s behalf. If no claim is pursued in that time, the child will then have until their 21st birthday to issue proceedings at Court in respect of their claim.
If the surgical error means that the patient no longer has mental capacity, no time limit will apply to them bringing a claim.
No matter the circumstances of your particular claim, if you fail to bring a claim within the correct time limits, your claim is likely to be disallowed. Therefore, it’s vitally important that you start a medical negligence claim as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less likely it is that a solicitor will be willing to assist you because they have less time to gather evidence and make a case, particularly in a more complex situation.
The time it takes to make and receive compensation for a surgical negligence claim can vary dramatically. The average length of a compensation claim is dependent on many factors, such as:
- Whether or not the claim is contested
- The severity of the injuries sustained due to negligence
- The ongoing nature of your injuries
- Whether or not the case goes to court.
How much compensation could I get for an operation that went wrong?
The amount of compensation you can claim due to surgical negligence will vary dramatically depending on the severity of the situation.
As each situation is unique, it’s impossible to accurately predict how much compensation you may be able to recover.
If you want to know how much you may be able to claim, speak to one of Ashtons Legal’s surgical negligence solicitors. By discussing your personal circumstances, they can give you a more accurate idea of how much you may be entitled to and the likelihood of a successful claim.
Contact our Surgical Negligence Claims Solicitors
To make a surgical negligence claim, please contact our experienced surgical negligence solicitors. You will be offered a free initial consultation to sensitively discuss the particulars of your case and plan the potential next steps.
Get in touch by calling 0330 191 4774, emailing us at enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk or filling in the enquiry form on the right-hand side of our contact page.