What is Hospital Malpractice?

Compensation claims for hospital malpractice differ from general hospital accident compensation claims, for when hospital malpractice occurs there is often a breach of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 – which can lead to far more serious consequences than a slip or a fall. Hospital malpractice is classified by the Medical Council of Ireland as when a registered medical practitioner has displayed unacceptable behaviour, failed to communicate important issues to a colleague or patient and has demonstrated poor professional performance – whether a lack of skill or the failure to apply that skill.

Hospital malpractice claims are the responsibility of the hospital in which the registered medical practitioner works, and are not confined to the operating tables. Claims for hospital malpractice can occur on wards, in day surgery and in outpatient clinics, and can originate from undiagnosed (or misdiagnosed) injury or illness, administration of the wrong medication or incorrect dosage, errors during surgery or childbirth and the use of defective medical products such as drugs and implants.

Compensation for Hospital Malpractice

Establishing hospital malpractice can be a lengthy and complicated procedure and unlike accident personal injury claims, compensation for hospital malpractice does not come under the jurisdiction of the Injuries Board of Ireland. Also unlike personal injury claims, you have two years from the “date of knowledge” to make a claim for hospital malpractice, rather than two years from when the hospital malpractice took place. Nonetheless, as soon as you think that you have been the victim of hospital malpractice, you should contact a specialist solicitor in order that fact investigation and expert reports can be compiled.

In order to answer any questions that you may have in respect of hospital malpractice, we have established a free advice telephone service,manned by solicitors with experience of claims for hospital malpractice compensation. Our solicitors will be able to give you clear and accurate advice in respect of what constitutes hospital malpractice, and determine whether you have a case to make a claim.

Call us now or if you cannot speak now please fill in the form below and we will call you back.

Our Promise to you:

What You Can Expect?

Being in hospital for your first injury will have been traumatic enough, without discovering that you now may be the victim of hospital malpractice and face the possibility of a further operation, corrective surgery or a further course of drugs. Therefore, we understand that this news may have come as a shock to you and treat your call to us with the utmost courtesy.

Our solicitor will ask you to explain the circumstances of why you were originally in hospital, what treatment was supposed to be given to you and how it was incorrectly administered. It would help if you could also explain how this hospital malpractice has affected you since your discharge.

We will assess if there could be a claim for hospital malpractice which it is worth your while to pursue and advise you of the best way to proceed. You are under no obligation to act on the advice we have given you, and there will be no pressure placed on you to go ahead with a claim.

Should you choose to use our services (and you do not have to decide immediately), our solicitor will guide you through the procedures involved with making a claim for hospital malpractice compensation and ensure that you receive a fair and adequate settlement for the trauma – both physical and emotional – that you have experienced.

Please do not delay in contacting us if you have any reason to believe that you have been the victim of hospital malpractice. Our legal claims advice telephone service is open twenty-four hours each day.

If you cannot call us right now, please leave your contact details in the call-back box above, and one of our team will be back in touch at a more convenient time.