Clinical Negligence

Should you, a member of your family or someone in your care be affected by such an act of negligence or breach of duty of care, then our specialist team can provide advice on the victim’s rights, the steps and issues involved with pursuing a claim for compensation and any time limits that may apply with regard to the action.

We can prepare for, pursue and take action on your behalf for injuries resulting from:

• Negligence during childbirth
• Orthopaedic procedures
• Trauma procedures
• Surgical procedures
• Dental treatment
• Failure to diagnose correctly
• Physiotherapy, chiropractic and acupuncture treatments

We also provide legal advice on issues involving the refusal of treatment or delay in care for patients suffering from cancer or other critical illnesses.

In a clinical negligence compensation claim the burden of proof that must be established against the third party is different to that of an ordinary personal injury compensation claim. In a personal injury claim the Civil Evidence Test of a “balance of probabilities” (51% plus) applies. In a clinical negligence compensation claim the burden of proof is known as the “Bolam Test” which was established in this 1957 case in which it was decided;

“The test as to whether there has been negligence or not is a standard of an ordinary skilled man exercising and professing to have that special skill. … a doctor is not guilty of negligence if he has acted in accordance with the practice accepted as proper by a reasonable body of medical men skilled in that particular art … merely because there is a body of opinion which takes a contrary view.”

At Campbell Courtney & Cooney we shall advise you carefully as to whether or not the level of care and skill provided has fallen below acceptable practice standards in accordance with the Bolam Test.