Would I be able to get compensation without involving a solicitor?

fryedslyce

macman said:

To answer the original question, you aren't guaranteed compo with or without a solicitor. You can certainly bring a civil case without one, but medical negligence is not easy to prove, and extremely expensive to conduct, due to the need for independent medical evidence, and you'll need to finance it yourself, or find a solicitor who will take it on a no win, no fee basis-which means they'll need to be sure that you have a very good prospect of winning.
Should you lose, you'll be liable for the other side's full legal expenses, which are potentially into 6 figures or more. If you are prepared and able to take this risk, then you can go ahead. 

This is not correct, since the introduction of qualified one-way costs shifting, a losing claimant is very unlikely to have to pay the defendant's legal fees in personal injury litigation.
https://hsfnotes.com/litigation/jackson-reforms/qualified-one-way-costs-shifting-qocs-for-personal-injury-claims/

JamoLew

True - but if the claimant refuses to engage and/or follow a complaints and mediation process first (as in this case)- they may not be eligible

fred246

There won't be many medical negligence claims at the moment. The solicitors are all too busy 'helping' the victims of diesel emissions. I hear some solicitors lost out when Thomas Cook went bust. Now it appears that people who thought they were going to get justice for their food poisoning on holiday will lose out. Never mind just have to sort out the whiplash claims. What a job. They must do something useful sometime I suppose.

Flugelhorn

Some of the companies doing the "no win no fee" are just dire - I had someone try to claim negligence against me - the paperwork from the solicitor was essentially illiterate and we couldn't work out what the problem was - the defence organisation's solicitors had to explain to them how they should be claiming. Eventually they said they just wanted some money, we said "see you in court" and they disappeared.  
Still stressful while it is all going on though 

TBagpuss

OP, in the first instance, you can make a complaint through the hospital - it sounds as though it may be appropriate for the nurse / midwife who did the stiches to have some feedback and perhaps ensure in future that she either gives better information (if there is a reason why it's not possible to give someone in your situation additional pain relief) or is a bit better at listening to patients. 

In terms of compensation - yes, you can start a claim without a solicitor if you want. However, unless you are confidant that you are familiar with the requirements of proving negligence and causation, and with the rules of procedure for court claims then you may be better off getting professional advice .

I suspect that any compensation would be low - compensation for physical injuries tend to focus on how badly and for how long you continued to suffer any pain or limitation on normal life - I think in this instance, the pain you experienced was during the process of getting stitches, and that any ongoing pain or discomfort was primary caused by the original tear, which wasn't anyone's fault. I think it would be difficult to prove that the worries you have bout having another child are due to the stitching as opposed to the factors outside the hospital's control, such as the fact that you gave birth during a global pandemic.

In terms of being put in the shared room, it doesn't sound as though there would be any grounds for a complaint there - you were not infected with Covid and it doesn't appear that they knew the other woman was positive until after you had been put in the room. Presumably they tested you and gave you advice? 

It sounds as though you had a stressful time and that the hospital could have done a better job of giving you information and reassurance.

A solicitor dealing with clinical negligence cases would be best placed to advise you about whether they think you would have a case to take any action, however, it might be more productive for you to raise a complaint with the hospital directly with a view to them reviewing  what happened so they can do better in future, and perhaps talking with you to clarify what the reasons were for the various steps. 

fred246

I read a report recently which predicted that all the NHS staff who worked through the coronavirus would soon be getting complaints from people wanting compensation. They said there would be even more staff leaving or retiring fed up with it all. Sad 

Mrsn

I was unlucky to have 2 traumatic birth experiences. 

The first birth was natural that I sustained serious damage and was taken to theatre away from my baby 30 minutes after delivering. I didn’t get to see them again for a couple of hours and was pretty terrified to be honest. He went on to develop jaundice and had to go under the UV lamp for 48 hours and could only be held at feeding times. When we were both discharged I was just thankful to be at home with baby and that we were on the whole ok. It did leave a mark mentally and had some input via taking therapies which was helpful.

Second experience was much worse... a planned C-Section due to the circumstances of my first birth. The actual section went well and first few days was good. However the 3rd day I became very unwell, the midwife at the time told me it was my milk coming in. If I had been a first time mum I might have believed that and the team proceeded to carry on with my discharge. I had to fight to ask a Dr to see me whereby it was clear I wasn’t right, I had sepsis. I was sent straight to HDU with the most horrendous shaking fits from my fever of 41. My baby girl was downstairs being cared for by the midwife and I had to argue to get her back beside me. I spent 4 days having hourly observations, many many blood tests and goodness knows how many different treatments to stabilise me. At points I was delirious and needed a 1:1 midwife to help me and my baby.

This was nearly 8 years ago. It has stuck with me and I developed quiet severe PTSD and post natal depression. I would not have got through it without my health visitor, community psychiatric nurse, the many doctors who helped at the time and over the years, I also spent a week in a mother and baby unit, with the most amazing nurses. Did I consider suing? No.... was I angry yes very... at the time I wish I had put in a complaint regarding the initial reaction/dismissive attitude from the midwife trying to discharge me. That said she knew how badly she had got it wrong when she saw me being rushed off. 

Without meaning to be unkind I don’t see how compensation will make this better for you. However I strongly urge input from the mental health team to help with impact that this has had on you, I absolutely do not dismiss how you are feeling but perhaps you should focus on the future and how to move forward.

GeordieGeorge

meraaakauser said:An apology won’t take back all the suffering I went through.

But neither will money, so what do you want the money for, rather than an apology?

May I ask (and it will be relevant to your case) how stitches can cause you to lose over a pint of blood? That’s a vast amount, more in line with being shot or stabbed than with stitches. It’s not even clear how having stitches can cause bleeding at all.

olgadapolga

GeordieGeorge said:

meraaakauser said:An apology won’t take back all the suffering I went through.

But neither will money, so what do you want the money for, rather than an apology?

May I ask (and it will be relevant to your case) how stitches can cause you to lose over a pint of blood? That’s a vast amount, more in line with being shot or stabbed than with stitches. It’s not even clear how having stitches can cause bleeding at all.

Possibly it wasn't the stitching itself but the tearing during delivery. When I had my first child, I tore and a blood vessel was involved, leading to a significant amount of blood loss (enough to have an effect on my wellbeing resulting in the offer of a  blood transfusion).

fred246

The problem is that of expectation. In developing countries and Victorian times death in childbirth is normal. So people appreciate medical care. Now people expect that childbirth is never a problem. Play some nice music, husband rub back, get in pool, get out and voila baby pops out. So even though mother and baby end up fine, women aren't happy. Childbirth is the safest it has ever been but the complaints are at record levels. I remember being taught this by one of the world's great philosophers. He was saying that in the old days people thought healthcare was marvellous even though it was actually useless because nothing that they did actually worked. Now it's the best it's ever been people think it's useless.