no win, no fee useless unless you get legal aid

vecbeads

my bug bear is that the no win no fee people wont help me as they say it is very difficult to prove medical neglegence unless i put up over £1000 and i cannot get legal aid as we have a little (and i do mean little) savings and my husband works

i had surgery or my hand nearly 3 years ago
the 1st op caused a problem with one of my digits so 6 weeks later i had another op to fix it. these ops were everyday run of the mill ops and no significant side effects.
the 2nd op was a disaster. as soon as i woke up i said i had no feeling in that part of my hand. the surgeon and consultant said not to worry it would soon ware off and if there was still no feeling the next day to contact them. this i did through my G.P. and was told sorry there was no one available to speak to me or my G.P. but not to worry and come for my 6 week check as planned. i did this and again was told not to worry eventhough i was having lots of pain from the rest of my hand and couldnt drive, work, cook, do my own bra up which as a working mother who lives in the country wasn't easy. nobody was available to see me for another 4 MONTHS during which time i had to give up my job as i couldnt travel to my work and couldnt have worked when i got there.
the next consultant said 'OH there is a problem here' and that he would get me an emergence appointment with a hand surgeon. 2 1/2 months later i saw a very nice man who new nothing about what had happened and was faced with a very upset woman who was in chronic pain and whos hand didnt work properly. he sent me for intensive physio once a week ( this was 37 miles away and remember i can't drive and there are no buses and trains). this i attended until the physio said there was nothing more she could do so the hand surgeon said another op.
this op was excrutiatingly painfull as he had to try and repair the nerves that were torn in the 2nd op and release the tendons and ligiments that were stuck .
sadly this op didnt work as well as hoped and another op was done this summer and it has improved things hugely. i still have pain but there is less than there was. i still dont have feeling but again it is better than it was . i am still not able to do what i used to but it is better than it was ( at least i can do my own bra up) i am working part time but the pay isnt as good and the prospects anrent as good but it is better than not working.

BUT i cannot complain to the hospital as it has to be done within 6 months of the op but at that time i had no idea what the outcome would be.

i now i cannot go for compensation because i would have to prove medical neglgence and even though in the 2nd op the nerves ect were damaged how can i prove this. i have been told that if, when it was noted that there was no feeling, this was looked at, the nerve damage should have been repaired quickly thus not giving me chronic hand pain and damage to joints ect due to everything in my hand not working properly
it makes me so mad:mad:

Tozer

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. But a medical operation that does not go as well as expected or achieve the hoped-for results is not necessarily medical negligence.

hollydays

Have you had independant legal advice?
Who has told you you have to complain within 6 months? Surely their must be some discretion.At what point in time were you lead to believe there was negligence? Have you been lead to believe there was negligence? Who by?
Your medical records will support the fact you had problems.

dacouch

Do you have Domestic Legal Protection Cover with your home insurance? If so it will probably cover you for this. Solicitors are supposed to ask you if you have this in place when they start dealing with claims.

So ring your home insurers to see if you have cover (They are only likely to take the case on if you have a strong case)

It may be worth posting your matter on the Insurance section as there are lots of people on there who may be able to advise you.

Tozer

Most home insurance policies exclude cover for personal injury claims due to the availability of no win, no fee claims.

I fail to see where the negligence is in this case. OP can you clarify?

hollydays

I wasn't aware that insurance legal protection could give cover for complex legal matter.I always thought it was just a helpline service.

dacouch

If you have it on your policy a "Decent" policy will cover you for personal injury and medical malpractice.

My friend is in a similar position but he did not take the cover out (I had told him to but he ignored) and is having to pay the costs himself.

Ring your insurers and ask them

Brooker_Dave

vecbeads wrote: »

it makes me so mad

They were trying to help you, and now you want compo?

vecbeads

i have asked my home insurance people and they said that they do not cover medical neglagence cases .
i was told by the hospital involved and read on there website that all complaints must be lodged within 6 months and i have been told that the 2nd operation i had the one that went wrong was a simple op and nobody mentioned any risks of nerve damage and the physio, occupational therapist and hand surgeon said that if there is nerve damage during an op , as the nerves are very small, if they are damaged then the sooner they are repaired the better for long term results

Tozer

vecbeads wrote: »

i have asked my home insurance people and they said that they do not cover medical neglagence cases .
i was told by the hospital involved and read on there website that all complaints must be lodged within 6 months and i have been told that the 2nd operation i had the one that went wrong was a simple op and nobody mentioned any risks of nerve damage and the physio, occupational therapist and hand surgeon said that if there is nerve damage during an op , as the nerves are very small, if they are damaged then the sooner they are repaired the better for long term results

The 6 month time period means nothing.

As suspected, home insurance does not cover this.

But I still maintain that this is not medical negligence. There is no such thing as a "simple op" and the consent form you would have signed would have made clear that there are ALWAYS risks with medical procedures.

vecbeads

it isnt really about money although i now have chronic pain every day and according to the pain clinic i go to it will probable be there for the rest of my life, i will probably have to have a joint replacement op in the future ( i am not old enough yet) as they have been damaged due to the problems with the tendons ect that have been damaged during the ops and due to the tightness of the scare tissue. i have had to give up my dream job and my future is now much more limited but what i really want some one to take responsiblity.
it is not the hand surgeons fault as he has done his best to repair the damage done in the 2nd op but he saw me 7 months to late and its not the physios, or occupational therepists fault they have done there best but they cannot undo what was done