There is a legal standard of care that you should expect to receive for yourself and your loved ones. Unfortunately, this standard is not always met, and the consequences of such a failure can lead to permanent physical injury, psychological trauma, or even death. It’s important that you feel confident when you decide to seek compensation for these issues. Our team of medical negligence solicitors Dublin have extensive experience in the field and are acutely sensitive to our client’s needs as we go through the legal process.
Here are some claim-specific pages that you may find useful:
When to make a medical negligence claim
There are numerous reasons you might be wary of pursuing a medical negligence claim. For starters, because you’re not a physician, you might not be sure that you’re actually entitled to compensation for whatever pain you’ve suffered. Perhaps you’re worried that the results of your experience aren’t the fault of the medical staff and nothing more could have been done. On top of that, you might be intimidated by the size of the institution that was responsible for your care and are afraid that they won’t be quick to admit the faults they made in your case. At Anthony Joyce & Co. we can say from considerable experience as a Personal Injury firm that you should not hesitate to give us a call if you’ve suffered harm while in medical care. Our team are sensitive to your concerns and willing to work long and hard to make sure you get whatever compensation you’re due on your personal injury claim.
Eligibility for compensation
As you can imagine, there are a lot of complications surrounding medical law. To claim compensation for medical negligence in Ireland, it has to be demonstrated that the treatment you received was performed negligently, and that the negligence contributed to your injury. These conditions could become even more complicated when you take into account the possibility that the medical professionals who conducted the procedure were acting on incorrect information that they received. Although this does not affect your eligibility to be compensated for medical negligence, it can complicate the process of making medical negligence claims when it first has to be determined who is actually responsible for your injuries. For example, some circumstances that could affect the outcome for your claim include:
- When there has been an avoidable delay in the processing of a test.
- When incorrect test results have been delivered to the medical professional.
- When administrative errors have resulted in wrong site surgery.
- When errors have been made in making follow-up appointments.
Medical negligence claims can often be further complicated if you have contributed to the cause or the extent of your injury due to your own lack of care. Such scenarios would include failing to communicate the symptoms of an illness or injury, ignoring advice given to you by a medical professional or declining to take medication prescribed for you. Although contributory negligence is not a common factor in medical negligence claims, it is something that you need to be aware of if you believe that you may be partly responsible for the cause of your injury. Depending on the level of your contributory negligence, you may be excluded from making a claim. Regardless of these complications, you should not be fearful of exploring the option of legal action. Our team of medical negligence solicitors are sympathetic to how difficult the process can seem, and are willing to work with you to make sure that you’re comfortable with whatever action is taken.
Expiry date on medical negligence claims
A time limit exists on how long you have to claim for medical negligence in Ireland. From the date on which you find out that you have suffered a loss, an injury or the deterioration of an existing condition due to a medical professional’s lack of care, you must take action fast. The date you become aware of an injury is known as the, “date of knowledge,” and, under Ireland´s Statute of Limitations, you have two years from that date for your claim to be filed. In many cases the date of knowledge will be fairly close to the day on which you received negligent treatment, but it could also be the case that your injury or a gradual deterioration of an existing condition is not attributed to medical negligence until many years later. It is also important to note that the date of knowledge in medical negligence claims for children is not until the child’s 18th birthday. However, as mentioned above, it is not recommended that you delay a medical negligence compensation claim on behalf of a child, as it is essential that evidence of negligence is compiled as quickly as possible. Indeed, it may take the full two years to construct cases to support medical negligence claims when liability is disputed or contributory negligence is a factor. For this reason, we recommend that you contact our team at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss the nature of your injury with a medical negligence solicitor and to establish your eligibility to claim compensation.