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“The second Lauren was born, it
was evident something was wrong.”
Elaine Allum (Lauren’s mum)
Medical knowledge and expertise has evolved over thousands of years.
But it is still evolving and even today it’s implementation can be imperfect.
The UK has a reputation for providing a high standard of medical and
nursing treatment.
Nevertheless negligence does happen.
And when it does the consequences can be extensive, lifelong and accompanied by very real and understandable anger.
At the same time, there may also be the urgent need to organise support, including modifications to the home – and to find the money to pay for all the very considerable and ongoing costs.
Small wonder many victims and their families scarcely know which way to turn when faced with such daunting prospects.
Thompsons Solicitors, the most experienced injury claim firm in Britain, fully understand and sympathise with this.
Their Clinical Negligence Team is a specialised group of professionals who work to maximise the compensation that can ease the suffering of victims and their families.
What follows is a brief guide to how Thompsons Clinical Negligence team can help you to pursue such a claim.
Thompsons have been established over 85 years and use that experience to work to maximise every claim.
Which has resulted in several record settlements over the years.
What’s more, our clients keep the full 100% of any settlement – our fees are paid by the other side.
It follows that it also costs absolutely nothing to talk to us about your own case and without any obligation.
Simply phone 08000 224 224
“Thompsons were magnificent… I was extremely
pleased with the settlement.”
Clare Patchett
“I was misdiagnosed 3 times and
because of that have brain damage that will
affect the rest of my life.
I had major brain surgery, which I later
learned probably saved my life.
I had to learn to walk and speak again
and did so.
But I have damage to my short term
memory, and have difficulties with
disorientated thinking.
I had to give up my work, too – I was a
psychiatric nurse. It was a job I loved and I
still miss it very much and I miss the friends
I used to work with.
I became extremely angry about what
had happened to me.
Thompsons…were magnificent.
I was nearing the end of the legal time
limit in which you can make a claim like mine.
So Thompsons moved quickly but
always explaining each step on the way.
And while doing so they were also very
supportive and understanding.
They were very thorough at going into
all our costs arising from what happened to
me - right down to train fares and all sorts
of out of pocket expenses.
And, of course, they had the same
thoroughness at projecting my future needs
and those costs.
As my case was being prepared it
became obvious that Thompsons have a
really good network of useful contacts, too –
medical experts... and all sorts of other
specialists including experts on what home
modifications I need.
For example, for my children’s safety
and my own I need halogen warning lights
to prevent me leaving the gas on, or in case
I leave the bath running.
I was extremely pleased with the
settlement and I try to be optimistic that I
can make some more progress.
My goal is to become more independent.
And I hope to become a mature student.”
Clare Patchett
If you contact us to discuss your case we will usually advise you to make a complaint to the hospital or the healthcare provider involved if you have not done so already.
If you wish, we will advise you on how to do this.
The NHS and most private care providers have set procedures for investigating complaints.
In order to respond to your letter they will have to investigate your complaint and discuss it with the staff involved.
So by complaining you know that you will at least have your case investigated and receive some explanation for what occurred.
That will not put the clock back for you.
But is usually the first step in building your claim.
To make a successful claim for you we need to prove that others were to blame for what has happened to you.
And the stronger the evidence, the stronger your claim.
In all but the simplest cases, we will investigate the circumstances surrounding what happened to you.
We may obtain the opinions of independent medical experts.
Medical staff are trained to work in teams and that often prevents them from openly blaming colleagues, even when they privately know them to be at fault.
But independent expert witnesses will not hesitate to point out poor practice and work that falls short of professional standards.
We will also collect information from a wide variety of other experts - where relevant on rehabilitation, care needs, on adapting homes, on occupational therapists and on special transport needs.
“…whatever lies ahead I know that Lauren will
have a better quality of life thanks to Thompsons.”
Elaine Allum Mother of Lauren
“I’d had a normal pregnancy. But my delivery was at a new hospital that had only been open 2 days.
When I arrived the midwife couldn’t examine me as they didn’t have all the equipment – she didn’t take my blood pressure or monitor the baby.
There seemed a lot of confusion and it was about an hour and a half before I was attended to.
The second Lauren was born it was evident something was very wrong.
She looked grey and she was so still and quiet it was obvious immediately that there was a problem.
Later, my husband, Ian, and I were taken up to a Special Care Unit to see Lauren.
She was covered in tubes and wires and on a ventilator.
About 2 weeks later we were told by the doctor in the Special Care Baby Unit that Lauren had suffered birth asphyxia and... was likely to have moderate to severe brain damage.
But for the first year and a half, we hoped and hoped everything was ok – until we couldn’t any longer ignore the reality that something was seriously wrong.
We also realised we didn’t know what to do and that we needed help, particularly legal advice.
I contacted Thompsons Solicitors and the lawyer we met was very impressive, very knowledgeable…he explained that a key weakness of our making a claim for negligence surrounding Lauren’s birth was that the traces, the print out record of Lauren’s heartbeat for that period, had vanished.
Without these, he said bringing a case for medical negligence was going to be far harder – it would take a very long time to prepare and be much more complex.
Thompsons then did everything they could to keep pushing it along.
They had to get much more information to make up for the missing traces Indeed nobody had even actually diagnosed Lauren as suffering from cerebral palsy until 6 years after her birth and that was because Thompsons arranged for us to see a consultant paediatrician as part of the preparation for our legal claim.
Thompsons never faltered during all that time – they kept driving things forward.
And they always kept us in the picture, updating us promptly.
All along, I felt Thompsons actually cared about Lauren and her future.
Their experience and connections were a great help, too.
Today, whatever lies ahead I know that Lauren will have a better quality of life thanks to Thompsons.”
Elaine Allum, Mother of Lauren
“Eventually we got an offer we accepted.
To be honest, it was more than we expected and
we’re over the moon!”
Stuart Duncan
“I went into my local hospital in March
2004 for what should have been a routine
operation to remove my gall bladder.
When we got home I couldn’t walk. My
wife virtually pushed me up the stairs.
The following day I was feeling rotten.
I was taken back to the hospital by
ambulance.
I was in a bad way, I had multiple organ
failure and septicaemia…I was nine weeks
in Intensive Care in Bristol, where I had
eight further operations.
Prior to all this I had worked in a paper
mill, along with my brother-in-law.
But…there was no possibility of my
returning to my old job which included risk
assessments of heavy lifting and climbing
ladders attached to big machines – I can’t lift
or climb anymore.
When the 12 months insurance covering
my mortgage payments had expired we were
in financial difficulties, too.
So I accepted a redundancy package.
My brother in law had heard of
Thompsons so we made contact and a
Thompsons Medical Negligence lawyer
came to see me at home.
She made an instant assessment of what
had happened to me and it was spot on.
She made sure we were kept in the
picture throughout.
Her secretary, would even phone before
sending a letter to us to explain what it was
about and see if there was anything we
might not understand.
The hospital trust started making offers
for a settlement.
But Thompsons kept turning them down.
Eventually we got an offer we accepted.
To be honest, it was more than we
expected and we’re over the moon!”
Stuart Duncan
Compensation is awarded for the harm done by things going wrong.
For example, for avoidable pain and suffering and their effects on your way of life – including loss of earnings, additional expenses, paying for care for you (or your child) special equipment, household modifications and so on.
As already mentioned we will obtain expert evidence and claim compensation on your behalf for all past and estimated future losses.
Put simply, our aim is to maximise your compensation.
You should seek legal advice promptly.
Court proceedings need to be started within three years of the date the harm was done, or the date you could first reasonably have found out that things had gone wrong.
In special cases, the court sometimes has discretion to allow cases to proceed beyond this time limit.
For injury to children, proceedings have to be started before the 21st birthday.
Time does not run while a person is mentally incapable.
You may be entitled to disability benefit and/or other State Benefits.
Thompsons can advise you on this as, of course, can your local Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) office.
Any such claims are made separately to your claim for compensation.
The phone number for the DWP benefit enquiry service is below, along with other helpful numbers.
This booklet has shown you just three of Thompsons’ satisfied clients.
We have, literally, thousands more who are delighted with the service and settlements they received.
And the vast majority of clinical negligence claims we handle are settled without ever going to court.
A further benefit of a good settlement is that it can often help our clients come to terms with what has happened and move on.
As well as being the most experienced injury claim firm in Britain, Thompsons are leading experts in the field.
Our Solicitors belong to the Solicitors Regulation Authority Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme, and are members of Action against Medical Accidents, the Spinal Injuries Association and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers
Why settle for less.
Specially when our services are completely free to you as one of our clients.
Department for Work and Pensions benefit enquiry line:
Freephone 0800 88 22 00
Textphone 0800 24 33 55
NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence)
www.nice.org.uk
SIA (Spinal Injuries Association)
www.spinal.co.uk
AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents)
www.avma.org.uk
0845 123 23 52
Healthcare Commission
www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
0845 601 3012
NHS Direct
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/
0845 4647
Headway
www.headway.org.uk
Freephone 0808 800 2244
ICAS (Independent Complaints Advisory Service)
www.cppih.org/icas
To discuss a possible clinical negligence claim in more detail telephone us on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online compensation claim forms.
You can also download this brochure as a pdf (528 KB)