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For more than 30 years, Boyes Turner’s medical negligence solicitors have helped individuals and families whose lives have been devastated by negligent hospital or GP treatment rebuild their lives through their entitlement to claim compensation.
We are experts in claims of maximum severity leading to permanent disability. We understand the medical issues, the cause and devastating effects of our clients’ injuries, and how to secure compensation in a way which meets our clients’ lifelong needs.
We are known for obtaining the highest compensation awards and our track record of successful settlements speaks for itself. In the last 12 months we have recovered over £100 million in compensation for our clients.
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Our clients receive the highest standards of advice and representation and are always treated with compassion, outstanding care and understanding of the physical, emotional, psychological and financial impact that life-changing injury can have upon their lives.
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The law says that a doctor, midwife, nurse or other healthcare practitioner is negligent if they act in a way that falls below any acceptable standard of care. The patient is entitled to compensation for any injury that was caused by negligent medical care. They are also entitled to compensation for the financial consequences of that injury.
Medical negligence claims involving severe injury and disability should always be handled by specialist solicitors. It takes experience and skill to successfully prove that medical negligence has caused a patient’s injuries, and to secure the highest levels of compensation.
For full details on medical negligence please visit our complete guide on medical negligence claims page.
Medical negligence, also known as clinical negligence, is substandard treatment of a patient by a healthcare provider, such as:
Our highly experienced medical negligence lawyers have the proven skills to succeed in high value, complex claims including:
If you think that you or a family member have received negligent medical treatment which has caused serious injury or disability, we recommend that you speak to one of our friendly, experienced clinical negligence team as soon as possible. You can contact us by telephone or by email. Your enquiry will be handled confidentially and preliminary advice in relation to pursuing a claim will be given free of charge.
Our solicitors will ask you to tell us briefly what has happened, advise you about the limitation deadlines (time limits) which apply to your claim and whether we are able to help you investigate your claim.
Once our initial investigations have taken place, we will notify the defendant (hospital or doctor) of your intention to pursue a claim and invite them to respond, giving them an opportunity to admit liability, before court proceedings are issued.
If liability is admitted, we will enter judgment and apply for an interim payment as soon as possible to meet any urgent needs that you may have as a result of the negligently caused injury.
If liability is disputed, we will discuss with you the further steps that we need to take to progress your claim.
Read more deatails on how to make a compensation claim for medical negligence.
Where a healthcare professional is employed by an NHS or private healthcare organisation, their employer usually takes responsibility for their mistake.
Most NHS employees’ claims are handled, defended and/or settled by NHS Resolution. In some cases, particularly where the healthcare was provided privately, the doctor or other healthcare professional may be indemnified and represented by their professional defence organisation (such as the Medical Defence Union or the Medical Protection Society).
Patients have a right to be compensated for injuries (and their financial consequences) which are caused by unacceptable errors in their medical treatment. Healthcare professionals have professional indemnity insurance, either through the NHS or their own insurers, to cover them for compensation claims in the event that they make a mistake which results in injury to a patient.
Medical negligence can occur in any area of healthcare. Most commonly, we act for clients whose serious injury arose from negligent:
Whilst most mistakes cause temporary harm or distress to the patient, some negligent errors result in serious injury and permanent disability. These life-changing injuries affect every aspect of the injured person’s life, including their independence, mobility, ability to communicate, self-care, work and participate in social and leisure pursuits. Their lifespan may be shortened and they may become totally dependent on others for care to keep them safe and healthy, and for assistance with all the usual activities of daily life.
Our clients who have been severely injured/disabled by medical negligence have suffered:
We also help dependent families claim compensation where their loved one died as a result of medical negligence. Compensation can ease the financial hardship that often follows the unexpected death of a parent or partner, providing some relief for our clients at this extremely difficult time.
The duration of a medical negligence claim depends on the individual circumstances of the client’s case. The claim is likely to take less time to conclude where:
Circumstances which make the claim more complex and therefore take longer to resolve include:
An initial full or partial denial of liability by NHS Resolution or other medical defence organisation does not necessarily mean that the injured person’s claim will fail. In more than half of our successful cases in 2019, we overcame initial denials of liability by the defendant, resulting in settlements for our clients.
We work hard to secure early admissions of liability and substantial interim payments so that we can begin to alleviate financial hardship and provide essential care, respite, specialist equipment, therapies and home adaptations long before the claim has settled. With liability judgments secured and interim funds in place, the individual and their family are able to focus on rebuilding their lives whilst we concentrate on valuing and negotiating settlement of the claim.
The law states that, in most cases, someone who has been injured as a result of medical negligence has three years from the date of the negligence which caused the injury to issue court proceedings. If they fail to issue court proceedings within that time, their claim will be statute barred, meaning that they lose their right to bring a claim.
There are the following exceptions to the three-year rule:
Regardless of your time limit, we recommend that you contact us as soon as you can after the injury has taken place, even if at that stage you are only considering whether to make a claim. By contacting us early:
Whilst we cannot guarantee that any particular claim will settle out of court, we take great care in investigating and preparing each claim that we take on. Our clients’ claims usually settle successfully without the need for a contested trial.
Occasionally, cases can only be concluded by a formal court hearing, such as where:
Where our client’s claim is complicated by any of the above, we may advise our client that for the case to proceed it must go to a court hearing. Our caring and highly experienced solicitors and barristers ensure that our clients are always kept informed and supported.
Even in non-contested cases, there will be occasions when the case is brought for shorter hearings before the court, such as after a settlement for a child or brain injured adult without mental capacity takes place. In these cases, the lawyers for both sides present the agreed settlement to the court for the judge’s approval.
Our nationally acclaimed medical negligence lawyers are recognised by Chambers Directory and Legal 500 as leading experts in clinical negligence. Our clients receive the highest standards of advice and representation and are always treated with compassion, outstanding care and understanding of the physical, emotional, psychological and financial impact that life-changing injury can have upon their lives.
Our highly experienced medical negligence lawyers have the proven skills to succeed in high value, complex claims involving catastrophic injury and severe disability.
We work hard to secure early admissions of liability. This enables us to obtain substantial interim payments to begin easing the financial hardship which often follows a devastating injury. We use interim payments to make a real difference to the injured person and their family by getting care, rehabilitation and therapies underway as soon as possible. Depending on the client’s injury, we can help meet their needs for:
By understanding and targeting provision for our clients’ individual needs early in the claims process, we help restore our clients’ mobility, independence and ability to participate fully in family and social life, long before the claim has concluded.
Depending on the type of injury, we can also facilitate our clients’ access to educational and vocational (workplace) support. We work closely with our special educational needs (SEN) specialists to achieve the right school placements for our disabled child clients.
Call our specialist legal teams Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 17.30 for free, no obligation advice.
Complete our simple form to start your claim and get a call back back from our expert legal team.
$23 million settlement in an international cerebral palsy claim for a boy who suffered kernicterus brain damage from untreated jaundice in the days following his birth. Our client’s compensation reflected the cost of meeting his needs in the USA, where he now lives. During the claim, interim payments of £1,350,000 helped meet his urgent needs.
£21 million settlement for a severely disabled teenager whose cerebral palsy was caused by HIE from lack of oxygen to his brain during negligent delays in his delivery. A £250,000 interim payment was secured to meet his urgent needs whilst we pursued his claim.
£6.4 million compensation for a young woman who needed Lisfranc (through-foot) amputations after ambulance paramedics failed to recognise that she had symptoms of meningitis and take her to hospital for antibiotic treatment. We agreed to help her make a claim after her previous solicitors had rejected the case, which they said would not succeed.
£950,000 settlement for a man with diabetic neuropathy who developed Charcot foot and required a below knee amputation after delayed diagnosis and treatment of a minor foot injury. GP surgery staff and a hospital x-ray department missed multiple opportunities to refer him for specialist foot care or diagnose his condition.
£1.5million lump sum plus lifelong payments of £225,000pa for a man who was left paralysed with tetraplegia after falling from the hospital chair where he was left to sleep after unnecessary spinal surgery. An interim payment of £300,000 met his urgent needs whilst the case continued.
£1.33 million settlement for a man who was left with disability from cauda equina syndrome (CES) when his surgical treatment was delayed after an out-of-hours GP failed to refer him immediately to hospital.
£800,000 settlement for a man left with bowel and bladder damage, impaired mobility and sexual dysfunction after his GP failed to recognise signs of cauda equina syndrome (CES) and refer him for emergency treatment.
£2 million settlement for a woman who was left with 50% respiratory disability after nearly a four-year delay in diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
£800,000 for a client left with pain, bowel and bladder and sexual dysfunction, and a psychological injury after negligent treatment for cervical smear tests showing CIN3 (pre-cancerous cells) led to her developing cervical cancer. Interim payments of £40,000 helped ease our client’s financial hardship during the claim. Several previous solicitors had refused to take on our client’s case.
Our teams have been nationally recognised over the past decade for their dedication and commitment to securing maximum compensation for our clients
What has to be some of the most testing horrible times was dealt with in a dignified, honest, approachable and truly empathetic manner. I could not begin to do Susan justice for her handling of our case.
I approached Boyes Turner after my claim was turned down by one of the Medical Negligence Claim company. My wife was a victim of medical negligence.
Boyes Turner have acted so efficiently on our behalf and was able to win our case. Anytime we contact them, their customer service was very good as they kept us fully informed of every level our case has developed. They are very friendly and approachable and great in their professional advise. I would strongly recommend anyone approach them for their legal and medical negligence services.
Thoroughly professional, knowledgable and approachable with communication and updates as and when needed, in what can be a drawn out process, I was always comfortable asking questions and always received answers which were clear and understandable. Highly recommend
I came to Boyes Turner desperate after searching the web for a firm to use for my sons case. He was only a few months so my mind was all over the place, but from the very first point of contact I felt a sense of relieve and belonging. I was welcomed and looked after by amazing staff who always communicated everything so well and went the extra mile to explain things and ensure I understood what was happening every step of the way (THANK YOU SUSAN BROWN). Susan was amazing I felt like I not only had a solicitor but someone who understood my emotions as a mother and always handled me with so much compassion and that was all I needed to keep me going for the 6 years of the case. Years went by in a breeze because of how professional Boyes Turner was. I am so greatful I went through it all with them and mananged to get my son a good compensation. We look forward our new life where my sons needs are priority after struggling for so long. Thank you Boyes Turner and thank you Susan Brown. My family and I are ever indebted.
From the moment I picked up the phone and spoke to Richard Money-Kyrle I knew I had done the right thing by choosing Boyes Turner to take our claim forward and to represent my son. Both Richard Money-Kyrle and Alpa Rana have worked on our case and they both have been amazing throughout, explaining every step of the way and anything we didn’t understand and keeping me updated constantly. This gave me and my family a lot of reassurance. Both Richard and Alpa are friendly and gained my trust and have been really easy to talk to which has made the process a whole lot easier and smoother than anticipated. The outcome of the claim was far more than I could have wished for and that was down to their hard work and expertise I couldn’t fault them they have been brilliant throughout the whole process I would recommend Boyes Turner to anyone.
