If you have been injured by a health care professional or provider, we can help.
It is not unusual for patients to have difficulty identifying an injury caused by their medical or other health care provider. Particularly if their treatment has been complex and involved long periods of hospitalisation. Often what patients articulate is a “sense of wrongness” about their treatment.
If you believe that your medical treatment has compromised or significantly impacted the outcome that you expected, have suffered that “sense of wrongness” or believe that you have been injured by your health care provider, we can help.
Generally, health care in Australia is usually of a high standard, however, sometimes things go wrong. Failure to provide reasonable medical care to a patient is called medical negligence. It may be as a result of the conduct of a doctor, hospital or other health professional – this area of law can be complex and difficult to navigate, so if you believe you may have a claim you should contact one of our expert lawyers today on 1800 21 22 23.
Hospitals, doctors, nurses and allied health professionals owe their patients a duty to provide a reasonable standard of care when providing medical services. If they fail to provide this standard of care, and cause damage or loss to a patient as a result, they may be liable for this damage.
In order to sue for damages, you need to demonstrate that you have suffered injury, loss or damage which was caused by the negligence of the hospital, doctor or other health care provider, not from the underlying disease, disorder or injury for which you were being treated. This can be a difficult question to determine and requires expert skill, knowledge and advice to investigate and prosecute.
We can help you get the compensation you deserve on a no win, no fee basis.
That means you don’t have the added burden or stress of up-front legal fees. You simply focus on you and your family and leave the investigation, prosecution and resolution of your claim to us.
Call us on 1800 21 22 23 for a free initial discussion with one of our lawyers today.
What you need to know about medical negligence claims:
There are three main elements you need to prove to succeed in a medical negligence claim. These are breach, causation and damage:
Not all bad outcomes are due to medical negligence. Sometimes complications can occur, these are often referred to as risks of a procedure.
If you have suffered a bad outcome, ask your doctor for more information regarding why this poor outcome has occurred. An apology is not an admission of guilt, yet health professionals are often reluctant to apologise to patients.
Timing
You should commence proceedings for damages within three years of the incident. After that three-year period your right to make a claim expires (extensions may be granted by the court in limited circumstances, but these can be difficult to obtain.)
Investigation
Medical negligence claims are generally very complex and often require six to twelve months investigation period to obtain medical evidence to support the claim before filing it in court.
This investigation stage involves meeting with you, getting your medical records, taking a statement from you, obtaining an expert opinion from specialist doctors and reporting to you with our advice on whether you have a viable claim.
It is helpful to keep record of your medical appointments/investigations/surgeries and to keep record of your ongoing costs or losses, including receipts for all out-of-pocket expenses, any time off work and any help you may have needed at home.
Court
Once your claim is filed in court it can take between 18 months to three or more years to be finalised, depending on the complexity of the claim and whether the injuries have stabilised enough to be assessed.
Our expert lawyers will run your claim as quickly as possible to allow you to move on with your life. This includes making all reasonable attempts to resolve your case out of court in a timely matter where possible.
If you think you may have a claim, contact one of our lawyers today on 1800 21 22 23.
Paul is one of the most experienced and successful personal injury litigators in Australia, having obtained many millions of dollars in compensation for clients. Paul ran one of the largest medical negligence practices in Australia. He has been instrumental in building our firm and continues to mentor our lawyers and their cases to ensure our clients have the benefit of his decades of experience.
Paul is also a Director for several companies, including the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation.
Sheri is an Accredited Specialist in personal injury law, with particular expertise in medical negligence, civil liability and workers compensation claims. She has experience acting in complex claims for seriously injured people across various areas of personal injury law. Sheri brings a strong understanding of regional NSW, hailing from Dubbo where she remains an active member of the community. She has won a number of professional awards, including the NSW Young Business Executive of the Year in 2017.
Jenny is an accredited specialist in personal injury law. She is dedicated to representing injured people in their fight to access compensation.
Jenny is committed to upholding the values of the union movement and applies her legal skills to the wider community through her role as a volunteer lawyer at West Justice.
In December 2018, Jenny was appointed to the Western Health Foundation Board. She is a passionate supporter of the mighty Western Bulldogs.
Anastasia is an accredited specialist in personal injury law. She has 10 years’ experience in Workers’ Compensation fighting for the rights of injured workers against large companies and insurers. She has also acted for people injured in motor vehicle accidents as well as in public and private premises.
Anastasia has served as a committee member of the Victorian Branch for the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
When you’re ready, give us a call or click on the button below to send us a message. It will go straight to a caring and committed member of our team who will contact you within 24 hours.
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