Accident & Emergency (A&E) Negligence Claims

A&E departments are one of the busiest parts of a hospital. Here, doctors make decisions in a pressurised environment where time is of the essence, so they need to move quickly and accurately to treat you.

With everything moving so fast, things can be missed. But, regardless of how hectic things get, the hospital and the medical staff treating you are legally obliged to look after your safety and provide you with appropriate levels of care. When things go wrong, this can be classed as medical negligence.

Signs and symptoms of your condition might be overlooked, making things worse and causing you to suffer for longer. As a result, this could mean more invasive treatment being necessary.

There are inherent risks to all medical procedures, and the risks should be fully explained to you by an A&E doctor beforehand. If this did not happen, you may have grounds for a claim. Similarly, if you were discharged without being properly assessed, this could also be the type of negligence that can result in A&E claims.

A&E claims can arise if a doctor misdiagnoses you. You may have received inappropriate treatment that you did not need and, as a result, this caused you additional harm or pain and unnecessary suffering.

Here are common things that can go wrong and result in A&E compensation claims being made:

• Failure to properly examine you
• Failure to take an x-ray, so a broken bone or fracture is not spotted
• Failure to correctly review a medical image, or in some cases, at all
• Failure to carry out appropriate tests
• Inaccurate reporting of test results
• Failure to get full patient history
• Failure to arrange follow-up or to refer you to a more specialised department
• Misdiagnosing your illness or condition, therefore missing things like meningitis, heart attacks and sepsis
• Delays in treatment
• Sending you home when you should be in the hospital being monitored or having emergency treatment
• Giving inappropriate medication or treatment which causes you harm

In some cases, patients will go to A&E with one condition or having suffered one accident and leave with additional or worse injuries. Some of these include:

• Head injuries due to a missed concussion diagnosis
• Spinal and orthopaedic injuries caused by missed diagnosis or delayed treatment
• Advanced infection, including missed symptoms of sepsis

These are just some of the complications that can occur due to medical negligence in A&E departments. In these cases, patients would have grounds to make A&E negligence claims.

If you’ve experienced injury or further damage after attending A&E, please get in touch to start a claim and get on your road to recovery.

Yes. Our team of medical negligence solicitors is here to help you pursue a claim and secure A&E compensation. Here’s what you need to do:

Know when the negligence occurred

If you’re thinking of making an A&E compensation claim, you must know when the negligence occurred before you proceed. This is because there are time limits in place for you to pursue a claim.

Meet the time limits

A&E claims depend on time limits. For adults who have capacity, this is three years after the incident occurred or from when you became aware of the negligence.

There are instances where these time limits can be extended, such as if a child suffers negligent care or a claim is brought forward on behalf of someone with diminished mental capacity. Our specialist solicitors will advise you on how to proceed in these instances.

Get in touch

Please contact us if you think what happened falls within the time limit. Even if you’re approaching the three-year cut-off point, our team may still be able to help. Our solicitors are experts in A&E compensation claims and can establish if your case could be successful.

We understand that you’ve been through a stressful time. That’s why our expert solicitors will take great care to find out what happened. They will let you know if we think your claim could be successful.

If you’re thinking of speaking to us, you might be receiving treatment to reverse and correct the damage that’s been done.

If you’ve had to take time off work due to the negligence you’ve encountered, this can add pressure. You may have a reduced income, which can impact on your wellbeing.

With this in mind, starting the A&E claims process can help you receive the compensation you’re entitled to and help you rebuild your life.

To start your A&E claim, please get in touch. Our team will ask you questions about what happened. We’ll establish the timeline of events and find out more about the injuries or condition you sustained as a result of the negligence.

This conversation will help us to work out two things. First, we’ll make sure your case falls within the three-year time limit. Then, we’ll determine whether it’s a case you could win.

By speaking to us today, you can move towards seeking the compensation you deserve. So, if you think you have a case, please call our legal team and they will take you through every stage of the A&E claims process.