There are many areas of health care where clinical negligence can occur, some or which may include: (to find out information on some of these conditions please click on a name below)

For the majority of clinical negligence the Law provides for a limitation period of 3 years. The starting point for the limitation period beginning to run is usually the date when the injury is sustained. However in clinical negligence cases , it is not always possible to fix this date with certainty. 

For example, you may not have found out until many months after the treatment that something had gone wrong. In those cases, the limitation date begins to run from the date when you knew that you had suffered an injury which was attributable in whole or in part to the act or omission which you say was negligent.

Limitation is another difficulty in clinical negligence claims. Even if the three year limitation period has possibly passed this does not necessarily prevent a claim being made. Judges have a discretion to override the time limits in appropriate circumstances. If you have an “old” claim then this is something which would need to be discussed with you.

It is very difficult to say how long a claim might take.  This depends to some extent on the other sides view of your claim. If they know they were at fault and are prepared to admit this, then it is a matter for your solicitor to obtain the necessary clinical experts reports to asses the extent of the physical or emotional injury and then to negotiate a settlement or if this is not possible, to ask the Judge to assess the damages. 

This could be done fairly quickly but it is unlikely even in a straightforward case it could take 6-12 months

If a clinical negligence claim is defended and has to go to trial, the length of time which the claim may take will depend upon the difficulty of the claim. A claim which is defended on the questions of negligence and damages could take up to three years.  The minimum length of time which a claim might take would be about 18 months. 

There are a number of reasons why a claim can take this long to reach a conclusion.

Clinical experts are busy people. It sometimes takes several months before they can prepare a report and it is often necessary to have an interview with a Barrister and it can sometimes take time to get all the parties together for an appointment. 

If you have received sub-standard treatment from a National Health Service health care provider then there are procedures enabling you to complain instead of taking legal action. 

You may wish to make a complainant for example if you have no intention of taking legal proceedings or if you have suffered no injury or very little injury as a result of the clinical error. 

A complaint against a family doctor or against a dental practitioner or optician or chemist should be made to the Family Health Services Authority. Details of the FHSA can be found in your local telephone directory. There are time limits and your complaint should be received by the FHSA within 13 weeks of the event but if the complaint is about a dental surgeon then the time limit is 6 months from the end of the treatment or 13 weeks from when you became aware of the matter that is the subject of your complaint (whichever is the sooner)

If your complaint is about a hospital then there is a hospital complaints procedure. This scheme is only designed for “Clinical” complaints i.e. about the standard of clinical care which you have received. 

The complaint ought to be made within 3 months of the event giving rise to your dissatisfaction and may be dealt with informally or may result in a review by 2 independent consultants. 

The intention is for the complaint to be dealt with in 3 months at most. There are however some shortcomings. In particular, the doctor concerning is not obliged to co-operate and you may not be represented by a solicitor. 

However we would strongly advise you to take legal advice before attending a hearing