There are two types of cases in this area of law: Professional Negligence and Medical/Clinical Negligence. This article will first briefly define the two branches and will then delve further into the medical negligence aspect.

Professional Negligence is the term used to refer to cases of professional misconduct by an individual who is in a position to give advice out. This can include your solicitor, a financial advisor, accountant, etc. If advice that they have given has put you in an adverse position, then you may have a case against them. Generally; however, this term does not refer to malpractice with respect to the medical field. As you might have inferred by now, the term Medical/Clinical Negligence is then used to describe a situation of neglect by a doctor, pharmacist, nurse, or other healthcare professional.

A case in this area of the law is often very difficult to win without the manifestation of a physical or mental injury. Further to that, beware that advertisements which boast no win no fee schemes do not apply to a case unless an injury has resulted from the negligence. As such, many clinical malpractice cases are not brought as a formal claim in the court system.

If the negligence you experienced has not left you with an injury you per se; for example, you have been prescribed with the wrong medication, or you have experienced lack of attention from medical staff at a surgery or in hospital, despite the fact that it is not necessarily worth going to court over it, your complain need not go unheard. In this type of situation you can talk to your medical negligence solicitor about filing a grievance with the NHS. It is also possible to file the grievance yourself by following the procedure set forth at NHS website. The results vary; but could lead to a simple apology from a healthcare worker, an investigation and/or disciplinary action against the medical professional, or the complainant may even be entitled to some form of compensation.

Whichever way you choose to pursue your malpractice claim, always keep in mind that professionals are human too, so the advice and services they provide are not foolproof. You cannot expect perfection from them; however, they must provide services which are up to the prescribed industry standard.