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Clinical negligence (also known as medical negligence) occurs when a healthcare professional—such as a doctor, surgeon, nurse, or dentist—fails to provide an acceptable standard of care, and that failure directly causes you harm or worsens your condition.

To have a valid legal claim, both elements of the two-stage legal test must be satisfied:

• Breach of Duty: It must be demonstrated that the medical care you received fell below the standard expected. In other words, we must demonstrate that no reasonable body of clinicians in that same field of medicine, acting competently, would have treated you in the same way. This is what is referred to as the “Breach of Duty” test.
• Causation: Proving that there has been a breach of duty is not enough in itself. We must then demonstrate that the breaches of duty in care caused or contributed to an injury which would not have otherwise occurred, on the balance of probabilities.

In England and Wales, the standard time limit (limitation period) to issue a court claim is 3 years. This countdown starts from either:

• The date the negligence occurred, or
• The “date of knowledge”—the date you first realised (or should have reasonably known) that your injury was linked to substandard medical treatment.

However there are some exceptions to this rule:

• Children: The 3-year time limit does not begin until their 18th birthday, meaning they have until their 21st birthday to bring a claim.
• Mental Capacity: If the injured person lacks the mental capacity to manage their own legal affairs, there is no time limit unless they regain capacity.
• Deceased Individuals: If negligence resulted in a fatality, the family generally has 3 years from the date of death to issue proceedings.

If the claim is not brought before the applicable time limit, the claim is said to be “statute barred” meaning that the Defendant to any claim obtains a strong defence to the claim on limitation grounds.

The only way to protect the claim against limitation expiry is to either successfully resolve the claim before limitation expires, or to commence Court proceedings. It is not enough to simply contact or instruct a solicitor. Therefore, you should seek advice at the earliest possible opportunity.

Yes. You can act as a “Litigation Friend” to make a claim on behalf of:

• A child under 18: Parents or legal guardians can manage the claim until the child reaches adulthood. Any settlement agreed upon must be formally approved by a judge to ensure the settlement is sufficient to protect the child’s future in light of their injuries.
• An adult who lacks mental capacity: If a loved one cannot manage their own legal affairs due to illness, brain injury, or disability, a trusted family member can act on their behalf.
• A deceased relative: Executors or Administrators of an estate can bring a claim for the benefit of the estate and surviving dependants under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934 and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

Traditional law firms often operate on a high-volume business model, assigning individual solicitors hundreds of cases. This can lead to slow communication, missed details, and clients feeling like just another file number. Additionally, traditional firms often require their solicitors to hit yearly billing and time recording targets, which can act as a distraction from the nuances of an individual’s case. Some larger law firms maximise their profitability by employing a team of Paralegals who are assigned to a limited number of Solicitors who must supervise the work. This can create a bottleneck in terms of claim progress by additional supervisory reviews being needed, and it can sometimes result in the case being handled by a Paralegal with insufficient experience, missing crucial details.

At Patient Lawyer, we put commerciality aside to focus entirely on quality over quantity:

• Smaller Caseloads: We restrict the number of cases each solicitor handles so we can devote significant time, energy, and detail to your claim.
• Direct Access: You work directly with an experienced clinical negligence Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive — your case will not be passed down to inexperienced members of staff, who will instead only assist in your claim to ensure it is progressed efficiently and proportionately.
• Forensic Detail: Medical negligence cases are won or lost in the details. Having the time to review every line of a medical record can make the difference between a dismissed claim and a successful settlement. By limiting our caseloads we ensure that the necessary time is spent to understand the details of your case.
• Zero Targets: At Patient Lawyer we do not impose billing or chargeable targets. We feel that it is important to take the time to understand the human story behind your case, providing empathetic, clear, and reassuring guidance from day one, without the added distraction of needing to achieve targets set by others.