While getting patients medical help in an emergency, A&E departments can be one of the most error-prone departments within our hospital system. We'll help you claim compensation for any negligence you experienced while under the care of A&E.
Although it enables patients to access high quality medical care in an emergency, Accident and Emergency can be one of the most error-prone departments within our healthcare system.
A&E departments are very busy and have been regularly underfunded over the years. They are full of the most dedicated and caring doctors and nurses. However, because of the pressure and amounts of patients seen every day, A&E claims are one of the most common types of claims made against the NHS.
You are entitled to receive a good standard of care when you visit A&E. Most of the time people do receive good care. However, on occasions this can go wrong and can result in serious injury and sometimes death.
Negligent treatment in A&E normally arises because the doctors and nurses make a misdiagnosis of your condition. This can arise in several ways:
Getting the wrong diagnosis can lead top lots of serious consequences such as:
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We are members of the Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) organisation, and have years of experience handling different medical negligence claims, including A&E claims.
We carry out many of our claims on a no win, no fee basis. This means there are no upfront costs for you and, provided that you have not misled or acted against the advice that we have given you, no financial risk to you – even if your claim is not successful.
In most instances we will purchase ‘After the Event’ (ATE) insurance on your behalf to cover any legal costs should you not win the case. However, if you have a ‘Before the Event’ (BTE) insurance policy included in your home, car or credit card insurance then we may look to use that insurance to cover the legal costs and an ATE policy should not then be required.
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A&E departments see so many different types of injuries or conditions each year.
Some further examples of A&E negligence claims are:
It is very rare to people to die because of mistakes that happen in A & E. However, this can happen. NHS Resolution reported that between April 2014 and March 2018 they settled 86 such cases. These involved conditions like:
Spinal claims relating to A&E treatment are very rare, but they are often some of the most serious and high value claims against A&E departments.
Claims normally arise because a patient has a problem affecting their spinal cord which could be:
These claims arise in patients with conditions affecting the brain. Examples are as follows:
Most claims against A&E departments relating to fractures arise because the fracture is missed and not diagnosed.
When you attend A&E the care pathway should be as follows:
As a ‘safety net’ to try and avoid missed fractures, the x-ray or scan will be reviewed separately by an experienced radiologist or radiographer just to double check that the results have been interpreted correctly.
Broadly speaking missed fractures arise because of four categories of mistake:
The most common missed fractures are as follows:
Get in touch with our no win, no fee A&E claims solicitors today
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In general you have three years from the date of negligence or reasonable knowledge of mistreatment by a medical professional causing you harm to bring a medical negligence compensation claim. There are some exceptions to this rule; for instance where the matter involves a child in which case the child has three years from the date of their 18th birthday to bring a claim, therefore expiring on the individual’s 21st birthday.
It is important to speak to our medical negligence solicitors as early as possible to avoid any issues with limitation dates.
