Legal advice from Brian Owens, a specialist medical negligence and personal injury legal executive at FDR Law, Palmyra Square, Warrington
When medical professionals make mistakes
Q: Our new baby has been left with cerebral palsy after a chaotic birth in hospital. Our daughter will be severely disabled and need constant support for the rest of her life. We believe the lack of professional care at her birth was a major contributory factor. Is there any redress available to us?
A: Sadly clinical procedures and operations do sometimes go wrong and no-one is to blame. Most medical professionals do a first rate job and if the outcome is not a success, it’s usually down to plain bad luck.
However, we are all human and occasionally clinical mistakes are made. Every patient has a right to expect that medical experts will treat them with a reasonable level of professional care. If they don’t, and a patient suffers either physically or mentally as a result of their mistakes, the patient has a right to claim compensation.
In your daughter’s case, she will need a lifetime of expensive care and support. You should seek the services of a specialist medical negligence lawyer at the earliest opportunity to establish whether you may have a claim, on behalf of your daughter, to help with this lifelong commitment.
A lawyer will work with you to obtain medical records and reports to try and prove that mistakes were made. If the hospital accepts that its staff were at fault, you would be entitled to a substantial level of compensation to fund your daughter’s care for the rest of her life.
Sometimes the authorities will initially deny responsibility but if a lawyer believes you have a sound case, they will fight your corner to help you achieve a fair settlement.
Brian Owens handles a wide range of clinical negligence and personal injury claims. For a free initial telephone discussion, contact him on 01925 230000 or email brian.owens@fdrlaw.co.uk.
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