Medical And Clinical Negligence Solicitors | Setfords

Enquire Today

Call our team or fill out a form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Call 0330 162 3547 Make an Enquiry
Clinical Negligence Image

Clinical and Medical Negligence Solicitors

Medical negligence (also known as clinical negligence) is a complex area of law and requires highly specialised clinical negligence solicitors who thoroughly understand the issues involved. These lawyers must be able to grapple with complicated medical evidence and ensure that the issues are properly explained to clients so they can make informed decisions about their case.

Setfords boasts a number of lawyers specialising in medical negligence, with our team having experience across a broad range of cases. 

We know that experiencing negligence at the hands of a medical professional can be stressful and upsetting. So, it’s vital to get qualified legal experts on your side. If you are concerned about medical treatment that you or a loved one has received, be sure to get in contact as soon as possible for a free consultation.

You can also learn more about medical negligence claims the services offered by our clinical negligence lawyers below.

Our Clinical Negligence Solicitors' Services

How exactly can our clinical negligence lawyers help you? See our main specialisms below. 

  • Orthopaedics

    Orthopaedics

    Most medical negligence claims in this area relate to delay and failure to diagnose fractures. Sometimes, doctors will miss signs of a fracture and fail to X-ray the patient, or misinterpret the X-ray(s) correctly and miss serious injuries. 

    Orthopaedic claims can also involve joint replacements such as hips and knees, like using the incorrect implant (prosthesis) or wrongly positioning it, resulting in joint failure or other problems requiring further surgery.

    Setfords is here to assess your case and secure you compensation if it turns out your injuries are the result of clinical negligence. 

  • Cancer

    Cancer

    When it comes to cancer clinical negligence cases, most claims in this area involve the delay and failure to diagnose cancer. The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the better chance there is of treating it. Sometimes, however, the delay is so long that the disease spreads and the outlook for the patient is very poor.

    In other cases the delay causes the need for more extensive surgery/treatment and damage to surrounding structures when a simple local excision (removal) is all that would have been necessary. Such instances may see patients entitled for compensation for the issues suffered. 

    Our clinical negligence solicitors have experience handling cases involving damaging delays in diagnosis of breast cancer, oral cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer, lung cancer, spinal tumours, and brain tumours. We have also acted in cases where patients have been misdiagnosed with cancer or given the wrong cancer treatment resulting in serious health implications.

  • Accident and Emergency claims

    Accident and Emergency claims

    The UK provides some of the best A&E care in the world, however, issues can still arise from A&E  negligence. For example, sometimes symptoms are misinterpreted and investigations aren’t carried out that would have revealed the underlying problem.

    Here at Setfords, we have acted in cases involving missed: 

    • Heart attacks
    • Stroke
    • Cancer
    • Serious infections
    • Meningitis
    • Fractures
    • Internal bleeding
    • Head injuries (including brain haemorrhages)
    • Appendicitis
    • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
    • Pulmonary embolism (PE)
  • General practice

    General practice

    We rely on GPs as the first point of contact for our medical services. And, while they can treat many ailments, they are also required to identify conditions that require more specialist treatment and to ensure that patients are referred to the appropriate specialist teams. Sometimes, however, GPs miss key signs or symptoms and fail to refer the patient quickly enough or at all.

    Setfords’ specialist clinical negligence solicitors have acted in cases of GP misdiagnosis and failures involving: 

    • Prescription of the wrong medication
    • Heart attacks
    • Stroke
    • Cancer
    • Serious infections
    • Meningitis
    • Fractures
    • Appendicitis
    • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) 
    • Pulmonary embolism (PE)
  • Urology

    Urology

    Claims in this area often relate to the delay in diagnosis and treatment of various cancers, particularly prostate and bladder cancer. Such failures or delays can have devastating consequences resulting in the spread of disease, reduced survival, and other complications.

    We have acted in cases of delayed diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and BOO (bladder outflow obstruction), as well as instances of serious bladder damage caused by the failure to catheterise.

  • Spinal Injury

    Spinal Injury

    Spinal surgery can be performed by either a neurosurgeon or a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. Patients with unstable spines due to degenerative diseases or a traumatic injury may require the fusion of a number of vertebrae to prevent further damage and/or reduce pain. The delicate spinal cord runs through the centre of the vertebrae and can be easily damaged when the vertebrae are fractured or if one of the ‘discs’ (this is the cushioning material between the vertebrae) becomes enlarged.

    Should a disc become enlarged or ‘prolapsed’, it can put pressure on the spinal cord causing neurological symptoms. If this condition is not detected and treated in time, it can result in permanent, devastating injury.

    Setfords’ clinical negligence lawyers have extensive experience with cases involving delayed diagnosis and treatment of spinal fractures. We have also acted in cases of substandard spinal surgery resulting in severe neurological injuries.

  • Anaesthetics

    Anaesthetics

    The anaesthetist has an extremely important role during operations. He or she must safely administer a range of drugs and anaesthetic agents to patients, while also ensuring that the patient remains stable throughout the operation.

    A spinal anaesthetic might be administered incorrectly, however, which is something that can result in damage to the spinal cord and have a devastating impact on the patient. In some cases, the anaesthetist may simply have not been paying attention and the patient arrests, resulting in loss of oxygen to the brain and serious harm to the patient. In other cases, the anaesthetic team may have positioned the patient incorrectly and/or the operation was longer than expected, causing nerve damage and permanent disability.

    We have experience in various cases involving mismanagement of anaesthetic leading to severe brain and spinal injuries.

  • Brain Injury

    Brain Injury

    The brain can be injured in many ways, and in extreme cases, such injuries can lead to physical and learning disabilities. Patients in these circumstances might suffer from speech, feeding and mobility problems. In other cases, the injury is more subtle but devastating because the injured person might suffer from personality change, memory loss and social problems.

    Setfords’ specialist medical negligence solicitors have acted in a number of cases where there has been delay in diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours and subdural haematomas leading to disabling injuries.

  • Surgery

    Surgery

    Most errors in surgery relate to a delay in identifying a serious condition or postoperative complication such as damage to other internal organs or nerves, infection, or bleeding.

    Setfords’ medical negligence lawyers have experience dealing with the following surgery negligence cases:

    • General surgery – Appendix, cholecystectomy
    • Brain surgery –  Tumour, aneurysm, haemorrhage
    • Neurosurgery – Spine, brachial plexus
    • Colorectal surgery/gastrointestinal surgery – Colostomy, colitis, Crohn’s Disease, incontinence
    • Gynaecological surgery – Hysterectomy, oophorectomy
    • Urological surgery– Circumcision, prostate, TURP, incontinence, urostomy
    • Orthopaedic surgery – ORIF, TKR, THR
    • Cardiothoracic surgery – Heart/lung
    • Podiatric surgery – Hallux valgus deformity, bunions
    • Maxillofacial surgery – (facial fractures, surgical tooth extractions)
    • Bariatric surgery – (gastric banding, gastric bypass)
    • Vascular surgery – (compartment syndrome, DVT, amputation, diabetic limb)
  • Cerebral Palsy

    Cerebral Palsy

    This is a highly specialised area of litigation which involves medical experts and complicated evidence about the nature of the condition and whether it would have been avoided with better treatment. 

    It is extremely important to ensure that cases of this complexity are dealt with experienced, specialist medical negligence solicitors. If you are concerned about the circumstances surrounding the birth of yourself, your child or the child of someone close to you, get in contact as soon as possible

  • Other areas of specialism

    Other areas of specialism

    Our expert solicitors can also help with a range of other clinical negligence cases, including but not limited to:

    • Sepsis claims
    • Traumatic birth compensation
    • Pregnancy negligence claims
    • Fatal medical negligence claims
    • Misdiagnosis claims, including NHS misdiagnosis

Orthopaedics

Most medical negligence claims in this area relate to delay and failure to diagnose fractures. Sometimes, doctors will miss signs of a fracture and fail to X-ray the patient, or misinterpret the X-ray(s) correctly and miss serious injuries. 

Orthopaedic claims can also involve joint replacements such as hips and knees, like using the incorrect implant (prosthesis) or wrongly positioning it, resulting in joint failure or other problems requiring further surgery.

Setfords is here to assess your case and secure you compensation if it turns out your injuries are the result of clinical negligence. 

Cancer

When it comes to cancer clinical negligence cases, most claims in this area involve the delay and failure to diagnose cancer. The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the better chance there is of treating it. Sometimes, however, the delay is so long that the disease spreads and the outlook for the patient is very poor.

In other cases the delay causes the need for more extensive surgery/treatment and damage to surrounding structures when a simple local excision (removal) is all that would have been necessary. Such instances may see patients entitled for compensation for the issues suffered. 

Our clinical negligence solicitors have experience handling cases involving damaging delays in diagnosis of breast cancer, oral cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer, lung cancer, spinal tumours, and brain tumours. We have also acted in cases where patients have been misdiagnosed with cancer or given the wrong cancer treatment resulting in serious health implications.

Accident and Emergency claims

The UK provides some of the best A&E care in the world, however, issues can still arise from A&E  negligence. For example, sometimes symptoms are misinterpreted and investigations aren’t carried out that would have revealed the underlying problem.

Here at Setfords, we have acted in cases involving missed: 

  • Heart attacks
  • Stroke
  • Cancer
  • Serious infections
  • Meningitis
  • Fractures
  • Internal bleeding
  • Head injuries (including brain haemorrhages)
  • Appendicitis
  • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
  • Pulmonary embolism (PE)

General practice

We rely on GPs as the first point of contact for our medical services. And, while they can treat many ailments, they are also required to identify conditions that require more specialist treatment and to ensure that patients are referred to the appropriate specialist teams. Sometimes, however, GPs miss key signs or symptoms and fail to refer the patient quickly enough or at all.

Setfords’ specialist clinical negligence solicitors have acted in cases of GP misdiagnosis and failures involving: 

  • Prescription of the wrong medication
  • Heart attacks
  • Stroke
  • Cancer
  • Serious infections
  • Meningitis
  • Fractures
  • Appendicitis
  • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) 
  • Pulmonary embolism (PE)

Urology

Claims in this area often relate to the delay in diagnosis and treatment of various cancers, particularly prostate and bladder cancer. Such failures or delays can have devastating consequences resulting in the spread of disease, reduced survival, and other complications.

We have acted in cases of delayed diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and BOO (bladder outflow obstruction), as well as instances of serious bladder damage caused by the failure to catheterise.

Spinal Injury

Spinal surgery can be performed by either a neurosurgeon or a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. Patients with unstable spines due to degenerative diseases or a traumatic injury may require the fusion of a number of vertebrae to prevent further damage and/or reduce pain. The delicate spinal cord runs through the centre of the vertebrae and can be easily damaged when the vertebrae are fractured or if one of the ‘discs’ (this is the cushioning material between the vertebrae) becomes enlarged.

Should a disc become enlarged or ‘prolapsed’, it can put pressure on the spinal cord causing neurological symptoms. If this condition is not detected and treated in time, it can result in permanent, devastating injury.

Setfords’ clinical negligence lawyers have extensive experience with cases involving delayed diagnosis and treatment of spinal fractures. We have also acted in cases of substandard spinal surgery resulting in severe neurological injuries.

Anaesthetics

The anaesthetist has an extremely important role during operations. He or she must safely administer a range of drugs and anaesthetic agents to patients, while also ensuring that the patient remains stable throughout the operation.

A spinal anaesthetic might be administered incorrectly, however, which is something that can result in damage to the spinal cord and have a devastating impact on the patient. In some cases, the anaesthetist may simply have not been paying attention and the patient arrests, resulting in loss of oxygen to the brain and serious harm to the patient. In other cases, the anaesthetic team may have positioned the patient incorrectly and/or the operation was longer than expected, causing nerve damage and permanent disability.

We have experience in various cases involving mismanagement of anaesthetic leading to severe brain and spinal injuries.

Brain Injury

The brain can be injured in many ways, and in extreme cases, such injuries can lead to physical and learning disabilities. Patients in these circumstances might suffer from speech, feeding and mobility problems. In other cases, the injury is more subtle but devastating because the injured person might suffer from personality change, memory loss and social problems.

Setfords’ specialist medical negligence solicitors have acted in a number of cases where there has been delay in diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours and subdural haematomas leading to disabling injuries.

Surgery

Most errors in surgery relate to a delay in identifying a serious condition or postoperative complication such as damage to other internal organs or nerves, infection, or bleeding.

Setfords’ medical negligence lawyers have experience dealing with the following surgery negligence cases:

  • General surgery – Appendix, cholecystectomy
  • Brain surgery –  Tumour, aneurysm, haemorrhage
  • Neurosurgery – Spine, brachial plexus
  • Colorectal surgery/gastrointestinal surgery – Colostomy, colitis, Crohn’s Disease, incontinence
  • Gynaecological surgery – Hysterectomy, oophorectomy
  • Urological surgery– Circumcision, prostate, TURP, incontinence, urostomy
  • Orthopaedic surgery – ORIF, TKR, THR
  • Cardiothoracic surgery – Heart/lung
  • Podiatric surgery – Hallux valgus deformity, bunions
  • Maxillofacial surgery – (facial fractures, surgical tooth extractions)
  • Bariatric surgery – (gastric banding, gastric bypass)
  • Vascular surgery – (compartment syndrome, DVT, amputation, diabetic limb)

Cerebral Palsy

This is a highly specialised area of litigation which involves medical experts and complicated evidence about the nature of the condition and whether it would have been avoided with better treatment. 

It is extremely important to ensure that cases of this complexity are dealt with experienced, specialist medical negligence solicitors. If you are concerned about the circumstances surrounding the birth of yourself, your child or the child of someone close to you, get in contact as soon as possible

Other areas of specialism

Our expert solicitors can also help with a range of other clinical negligence cases, including but not limited to:

  • Sepsis claims
  • Traumatic birth compensation
  • Pregnancy negligence claims
  • Fatal medical negligence claims
  • Misdiagnosis claims, including NHS misdiagnosis

Setfords’ Approach to Clinical Negligence law

 Setfords’ clinical negligence solicitors are some of the most experienced around in this field. We’ll listen, think, and give you the exceptional legal advice you need at a difficult time.

We can make such bold statements because we’re different from other clinical negligence law firms. All of our solicitors are highly experienced, meaning you’ll never get legal advice from an under-qualified junior.

What’s more, we have a unique structure that enables our lawyers to always focus on the case at hand, not internal billing targets or office administration. As a result, clients like you receive a tailored, highly professional legal service every time.

Medical Negligence Specialist Solicitors

Medical Negligence FAQs

  • What is clinical negligence?

    In law, negligence refers to an act or failure to act (omission) that doesn’t meet the required level of care and results in an injury or loss. Medical negligence is when a health professional fails to meet this standard and it leads to such consequences.

  • What is a clinical negligence solicitor?

    A clinical negligence solicitor — also called a medical negligence solicitor or lawyer — offers legal advice in relation to instances of injury or death owing to incorrect or substandard medical treatment or diagnosis.

  • How do I choose a medical negligence solicitor?

    If you’ve experienced medical negligence, you’re likely going through a difficult and stressful time. So, it’s important to choose the right lawyer to help you through. Among the main things to look for in a clinical negligence solicitor include ensuring that they have significant medical experience, good reviews, evidence of accreditations, and clarity of terms of service/payment terms, all of which will make a difficult process a little easier to deal with. 

  • What is the difference between medical negligence and clinical negligence?

    There is no real difference between medical negligence and clinical negligence, and the terms are used interchangeably. The process for pursuing claims is the same, and claims can be brought against all kinds of legal professionals, not just doctors and nurses. 

Speak to an CCJ Solicitor

Speak to a Clinical Negligence Solicitor on 0330 162 3547

Contact us Contact us

A 5-Star Rated Service For Clinical Negligence

TELL US ABOUT YOUR ENQUIRY

How Can We Help You?







    * notes a required field. We normally respond within 30 minutes during working hours. Read our privacy statement here