Clinical Negligence

Failure to correctly diagnose a medical problem can lead to crucial delays in getting the right treatment and complications that cannot then be corrected. This can expose the patient to further risks of things going wrong. This can result in both physical and mental suffering that would have been avoided if the hospital had not been negligent.

In these cases, we are often asked if a second claim should be made. The general answer is no – if the first claim is good, there is no need to add the hospital as a new defendant. Only if there is gross negligence – really serious negligence – does the court say that the person who caused the accident is not liable after that negligence. The Claimant does not get extra damages for winning two claims.

His Solicitor, Tim Beasley of Levenes Solicitors is calling for a full investigation into how basic medical care of a vulnerable child was neglected with tragic consequences. “There are some disturbing features of this case, not least because previous coroners have highlighted failings after 2 previous “Prevention of Future Deaths” reports and concerns raised by the coroner in previous cases in 2016 and 2017. The performance of the hospital appears to have deteriorated, rather than improved after those deaths. Typically, hospitals make statements that they will learn the lessons after these sorts of cases, but in this case they clearly did not. The management of the hospital trust has serious questions to answer”