The NHS does an amazing job. The pandemic has highlighted this more than ever before. But sometimes it goes wrong.
If you’re ever in a position where you’ve been mistreated by a medical professional, you can raise an NHS negligence complaint to hold those responsible to account.
Here’s how…
The NHS system is one of our best assets as a country, which can make dealing with a complaint a daunting prospect.
Whether you complain through the NHS system, or speak to a negligence claims specialist to make a legal claim, the process can be difficult.
In this post, we’re going to share five tips on raising an NHS negligence complaint that will make the process a lot easier.
5 NHS Negligence Complaint Tips
When it comes to making a complaint to the NHS, it’s not always clear what you need to do or what your options are. Here are our tips for making that process easier:
1. Know what constitutes as negligence
It’s not always clear what the boundaries for negligence are, so making sure you know negligence when you see it is the first step. These are the most common reasons people make NHS negligence complaints:
• An incorrect diagnosis or treatment
• Ignoring important symptoms
• Delay in diagnosis or treatment
• Failure to provide suitable pain relief
• Any negligence that results in personal injury
These are the most obvious examples but discrimination, errors in medical records, consent issues, and early discharges from hospital can also be considered negligence.
2. Figure out who you need to complain to
Once you know whether you’re the victim of negligence or not, you need to figure out who to make your complaint to. Depending on where you received your care, and the type of complaint you want to make, you have a few options:
• NHS Hospital Trusts: are responsible for making sure hospitals provide good quality healthcare.
• Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): commission treatment in private hospitals so you can complain to them if you’d rather not complain to the hospital.
• Your GP: especially if you’ve been referred to the hospital by your GP.
Everyone who provides an NHS service in England will have their own complaints procedure, so look into that once you’ve decided who to complain to. If you’re still unsure, contact your local Healthwatch for advice.
3. Keep hold of documents and request records
Throughout your medical treatment it’s a good idea to keep any documentation provided by your practitioner. This includes:
• Doctor’s letters
• Official documents
• Appointment notes
• Records relating to your expenses
It’s also wise to write your own detailed records of the treatment you receive in case something goes wrong with the hospital’s records. Try to include the effect of the treatment on your day-to-day life and any assistance you had with your care.
Once your treatment is finished and you’re ready to make your complaint, request your actual medical records from your healthcare provider. They are required to comply within one month due to UK data protection legislation.
4. Make sure they follow procedure
Once you’ve made your NHS negligence complaint, your work isn’t over yet.
You should stay vigilant and make sure you receive the attention owed to you by the relevant organisation. For example, the NHS should:
• Acknowledge your complaint
• Provide an opportunity for you to discuss your complaint
• Agree to an investigation
• Provide details of the outcome of the investigation and what you can do if you’re unhappy with it
5. Make a legal claim for medical negligence
Our final tip for making an NHS negligence complaint is to take a legal claim out against the hospital.
Most of the time, making a complaint to the hospital will result in nothing more than an acknowledgement of their negligence and a formal apology.
To receive any actual compensation to cover the damages of negligent treatment, legal action is likely necessary.
The most important things to note are:
• Make sure you pick a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence, ideally one accredited by The Law Society.
• Know what your payment options are, such as ‘no win no fee’, legal expenses insurance, or private funding.
Are You Ready to Make a Complaint?
Thank you for reading our top 5 tips for raising an NHS negligence complaint. Hopefully you know more now than you did when you got here and are ready to hold the person responsible to account.
Recent Comments