What is Classed As Medical Negligence?

If you’ve been the victim of medical negligence, it can be a stressful time. It’s difficult enough to deal with the pain of the negligence, let alone pursuing compensation. But simply knowing what’s classed as medical negligence can help you clarify your next move. Below, we explore what is classed as medical negligence.

Negligence versus a mistake

Regardless of the type of injury suffered, there’s a baseline that all successful medical negligence claims need to meet. Instances of medical negligence can’t just be an accident. To be negligence, there has to be proof that the medical care you received fell below the standards of competency expected. This is the same for all different types of medical negligence and will form the basis of your claim.

Surgical negligence

Surgical mistakes can be classified as medical negligence. This refers to any mistakes or injuries suffered during an operation. It could be that a medical professional has operated on the wrong body part, left a foreign object inside the body, damaged an organ during their work, or simply performed the wrong operation. In this situation, you should gather as much evidence as possible about the operation and how it affected you in the aftermath.

Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis is another common type of medical negligence claim. This simply refers to a medical professional giving you the wrong verdict on a health issue. Misdiagnosis can be particularly harmful if it misses a serious illness – this can result in you failing to get the urgent treatment you need. It can also result in you being given the wrong prescription or getting unnecessary surgery. Again, it’s important to record as much evidence as possible about this process if you think you suffered from misdiagnosis.

Birth injury

Birth injuries can be fatal or life-altering. There are many mistakes made during birth that can – in the appropriate circumstances – be considered as medical negligence. This refers to episiotomy, uterine rupture, hip dysplasia, and wrongful birth amongst other issues. For this to be classified as medical negligence, it will need to hit the baseline of showing that a medical professional fell below expected standards.

Knowing what can be constituted as medical negligence can help you work out whether to pursue a claim. If you’re still uncertain though, you can get advice from experienced professionals to give you peace of mind.