Hospital negligence claims are becoming more prevalent in Ireland every year. This is no surprise, since statistics demonstrate that more people have been killed or permanently disabled in hospitals due to medical incidents than were injured in road traffic accidents.
International figures show that 4-16% of patients in hospitals are exposed to potentially dangerous events, and Ireland is no exception to this. The Irish State Claims Agency revealed that in 2008, there were 83,661 adverse incidents recorded in our hospitals, with many of these leading to hospital negligence claims.
How do Hospital Negligence Claims arise?
Hospital negligence claims can arise for many reasons. It could be as simple as a minor injury sustained from a slip in a shower, through to a fatal error during an operation. Sometimes hospitals fail to diagnose a condition or make the wrong diagnosis. And hospital negligence claims can be brought if a patient was not warned about the risks of a particular treatment, or consent was not obtained.
Do I have a Hospital Negligence Claim?
We understand that sometimes it is very difficult to even find out what has gone wrong during your hospital treatment. Medical professionals and hospital administrators can be elusive and defensive when it comes to errors.
In our experience, most people who bring hospital negligence claims are primarily looking for an explanation, an apology, and an assurance that the error won’t happen again to some other unfortunate victim. The compensation, while financially important, is a secondary concern because no amount of money can make up for a serious health issue, or indeed the wrongful death of a loved one.
Calling us now is a first step in identifying exactly what went wrong in your treatment, and who was ultimately responsible. Your hospital negligence claim can then be brought against the appropriate persons or organisation.
Proving Hospital Negligence
It is extremely upsetting when something goes wrong while you are being treated in hospital. However, when considering a hospital negligence claim, it is important to realise that the law only provides for you to recover compensation if it can be shown ‘on the balance of probability’ that your treatment was carried out negligently.
In some cases, where better quality of care may have prevented your injury, it still could not have been avoided, and therefore your treatment will not be considered ‘negligent’.
What should I do next?
If you feel that you or a loved one have been a victim of negligence while being treated in hospital, we would recommend you speak to us about your incident without delay.
We are expert hospital negligence solicitors, who can give you immediate advice and guidance on your potential claim and what you should consider doing next.
Right now, the easiest next step is to call our legal claims advice helpline.
If you cannot speak to us now, simply fill in the contact form below to request a call from us at any time that is convenient for you.