Medical treatment should leave you feeling better, not worse. When you attend an appointment for anything to do with your health, it’s reasonable to expect to receive a satisfactory level of care. All medical professionals owe their patients a legal duty of care. If you think that mistakes were made at any stage of your healthcare journey, you deserve to seek answers and justice.
Understand accountability in healthcare
Before you talk about your experiences with a healthcare professional, it’s worth understanding the role they should play.
Every qualified medical expert – from doctors and nurses to clerical staff and radiologists – owes you a legal duty of care. This means that the treatment you receive should fall at or above the expected standards for someone in their role. In simple terms, that means they should treat you effectively, with no complications, and in a timely manner.
Sometimes, things go wrong outside of the control of your medical team. These could include side effects, or additional underlying illnesses that later come to light. But when it comes to things like misdiagnosis, mistakes in surgery or birth injuries, healthcare professionals may be at fault.
Role of the duty of candour
The duty of candour means that if a mistake is made at any point during your healthcare journey, your primary care team should be obliged to tell you. While this transparency and honesty might not undo the severity of their mistakes, it provides an opportunity for better quality care in the future.
Where errors can be addressed quickly, it’s more likely that your healthcare team will be able to put measures in place to get your treatment back on track.
Complaints and legal processes
Unfortunately, suffering at the hands of medical professionals can be devastating. Patients can suffer additional illnesses or symptoms that might not have appeared before the treatment.
The first step is to raise a complaint with the hospital or department that treated you. But sometimes, this won’t be enough to remedy the situation.
In cases where disability or severe injuries might be involved, patients’ families face extra financial commitments to help them adjust to a new way of life.
Some people might not be able to work while they recover, causing significant financial strain and subsequent stress too. During this time, many families choose to seek professional support on a local level. You can speak to expert medical negligence solicitors in Leeds to find out if you have a claim.
Did I experience medical negligence?
Even if you’re not sure if you experienced negligence, it’s worth getting a second opinion. Whether your condition was diagnosed incorrectly or you waited too long for treatment, you deserve to seek answers.
Get in touch with independent legal experts for honest, impartial advice on our situation.
