The Importance of the NHS Complaint Procedure with your Medical Negligence Claim:

Medical Negligence claims can be long drawn out affairs due to the complexities of the issues at hand and the lengthy protocols the law requires. Injured parties often feel that they do not obtain the apology or answers they set out for from the claim process alone. So if you’ve been a victim of medical negligence, in addition to getting legal advice, you can also file a formal complaint to the NHS body responsible.

The NHS Complaints Procedure can be an effective initial step to establish the facts of a case and gain a greater insight into what has happened. The lack of formal legal involvement at the complaint stage will often lead to the NHS being more direct and personable in their response, for example offering a meeting or discussion.

The first step to starting a complaint is to write to the Chief Executive of the Hospital Trust, Health Board or NHS agency concerned. All bodies will have a complaints procedure they can provide to you. The complaint letter should include a chronology of events and your questions regarding the treatment and outcomes.

Raising a complaint will lead to a formal investigation where members of staff, procedures, protocols and health records are reviewed to determine if there has been negligent treatment. Should the investigation conclude that there has been negligence the injured party or family is often provided with an apology and a detailed explanation of what has happened and why. Sometimes complaints can lead to the opportunity to meet the staff involved and talk through the issues together.

Often along with an apology the NHS will agree to take steps to prevent the same unfortunate circumstances reoccurring. For some injured parties and families this will be enough, and they will not wish to go further down the legal route.

However for others, particularly where the consequences of the negligence are significant, the next step is to instruct specialist solicitors such as Irvings to move forward with a claim for compensation.

The complaint response from the NHS is always a good starting point for a solicitor to access the faults identified and pursue the matter as a medical negligence claim.  However if you are considering a claim and are yet to go through the NHS complaints process we are happy to advise on the right steps for you.

Most of us have good experiences of health care but unfortunately negligence does happen and the consequences can be severe. If you would like more information about a potential medical negligence claim, give us a call on 0800 954 0243.

Sam Speers
Trainee Solicitor, Irvings Law