How long do Medical Negligence Claims take to resolve?
The process of medical negligence claim from filing until resolution can draw out for years. And this indefinite timespan is the scariest thing that keeps patients from complaining against medical malpractice and demanding their legal compensations. The reason why medical negligence claims UK take too long is the involvement of various legal and medical protocols. However, the time length varies from case to case – the more complicated a case is, the more time it will take to resolve. Third part dependence is also an important factor that adds to the length of litigation process.
Below we have given a timeline that outlines basic stages that you have to go through for ensuring your medical negligence claims are properly dealt with. This timeline demonstrates why a considerable time length is required for your case.
Background:
At first you must establish that a doctor or some other medical practitioner is responsible for your suffering or injuries. For that you must discuss your medical negligence claim with a solicitor to ascertain the validity of your case. The medical aspects of injuries you sustained and how they link with the faults of medical professionals in question would be considered and examined by specialist malpractice lawyers.
Case Financing:
In various ways your medical negligence claims UK could be financed. Your solicitor will discuss with you all available funding options. You can opt for one that suits you the best.
Evidences:
After your medical negligence claim having been filed by your solicitors, you must substantiate your claim with your medical history and expert reports. Your medical records will be collected from your physician or the hospital where you get your treatment from. A formal request to collect these records will be made by your solicitor, and due to ‘Data Protection Act’ it might take several weeks to be fulfilled. Then your records will be taken to independent medical experts so as to acquire their verifications and opinions to support medical negligence claims. As these experts are highly sought to get their valuable opinions, it will take a long to get a report from them.
Further medical examinations:
After getting expert reports, you may be needed to undergo further tests and medical examinations to confirm the occurrence of medical negligence. Taking doctor’s appointment for specified examinations and then acquiring test results is a lengthy process, thus adding to the length of medical negligence claims.
Formal complaint letter:
Once all evidences are complete, your solicitor will inform your defendants of medical negligence claim filed against them through a letter. Defendants are allowed a period of four months to respond to this letter. If accused medical professionals deny their liability for inflicted injuries, your solicitor will then take medical negligence claims UK to the court where trials start.
Both parties will be heard before reaching a resolution. You might not be in a stable condition to come to court or sometimes your defendant will not be able to make to the hearing, therefore it is quite time consuming to schedule court hearings in accordance with availability of both parties.
We have medical negligence claim endeavored to touch upon all factors that contribute to the length of malpractice litigations. It is just to make you understand what actually makes your medical negligence claims last longer.