Evidence for a medical evidence claim is a bundle of information that paints a picture of how the medical professional provided substandard care resulting in the avoidable harm you suffered. It is evidence that helps our panel of solicitors to build your claim and establish third-party liability.
If you have any questions regarding evidence for medical negligence claims or would like to start a claim today, contact our advisors by calling them for free on 0800 408 7826. You may also submit a free claim enquiry in our live chat so that our human advisors can review it and get back to you, or access our legal glossary to learn more. Alternatively, you can fill in our contact us form and an advisor will call you back.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What Evidence Do I Need For Medical Negligence Claims?
- What Is An Independent Medical Assessment?
- What Is A Bolam Test And Is It Always Required?
- What Do You Need To Prove To Have A Successful Medical Negligence Claim?
- Is It Difficult To Prove Medical Negligence?
- How Can A Solicitor Help Me With A Medical Negligence Claim?
- Learn More
What Evidence Do I Need For Medical Negligence Claims?
There are numerous forms of evidence you could obtain to support a medical negligence claim. It is also best to keep in mind that the more evidence you collect, the greater chance our panel of solicitors has at settling the claim in your favour.
The following sections provide examples of evidence for medical negligence claims.
Medical Records
Copies of your medical records are one of the most important forms of medical evidence. They contain all of your past and present conditions, treatment and medication. Medical records also validate your harm, the extent of your suffering and often state how it occurred. You can request access to your medical records by contacting your GP.
Photographic Evidence
Photographic evidence of any visible marks (such as scars) caused by the incident is useful in illustrating the actual harm you suffered. Simply take photographs of your injuries or the instruments that caused them to support your claim.
Witness Statements
If another person were present at the time the negligent conduct took place, it would benefit your claim to obtain a witness statement from them. However, you cannot do this yourself. You could take a note of their contact details so that our panel of solicitors can get in touch with them. Witness statements provide further validation to your side of the claim.
Proof Of Correspondence With Medical Professionals
Copies of any correspondence you have with the medical professional are also a sufficient form of evidence. As they tend to be dated, they allow our panel of solicitors to create a timeline of events leading up to the negligent conduct and how they responded to your illness and further harm.
Diary Or Log Of Events
Writing diary entries of your symptoms, appointments, and tests is another form of medical evidence. This gives an accurate record of your suffering and may create a timeline of the negligent conduct.
Medication And Packages
Copies of your prescriptions, medications and their packages are a very useful form of medical evidence. These demonstrate what medication you were prescribed and the dosage of it.
Financial Records
If you are claiming compensation for any financial losses you incurred, you should also obtain copies of your financial records to support this aspect of your claim. Some examples of this include bank statements, medical bills, payslips and receipts. Such evidence allows our panel of solicitors to accurately calculate the total losses you incurred as a result of the medical negligence.
For more examples of evidence to support your specific medical negligence claim, do not hesitate to contact our advisors.
What Is An Independent Medical Assessment?
An independent medical assessment is an investigation and evaluation into the harm suffered by a patient. This is completed by a neutral medical professional who has had no previous involvement with the patient’s treatment.
You may be required to undergo an independent medical assessment to support your claim. However, your solicitor may arrange this for you.
If you have any questions regarding independent health assessments as evidence for medical negligence, please contact our advisors.
What Is A Bolam Test And Is It Always Required?
A Bolam test is a standard test that is completed to determine whether a medical professional breached their duty of care while treating a patient.
The purpose of the Bolam test is to determine whether any other medical professionals would have committed the same conduct in the same situation. As such, the results of this test will be a valuable form of evidence for your claim.
The Bolam test is not applied in every medical negligence claim. Contact our advisors today to learn more about this.
What Do You Need To Prove To Have A Successful Medical Negligence Claim?
For a medical negligence claim to be successful, you must prove that a medical professional breached their duty of care, resulting in your avoidable or unnecessary harm. Here is a breakdown of this.
Duty Of Care
All medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This means that they must adhere to good medical practice, ensuring their patients receive the standard of care expected of them.
Breach Of Duty
Any substandard care medical professionals perform is considered negligent. If they commit such conduct or omissions (fail to treat patients), this may place them in breach of their duty of care.
Causation
Causation is the link between the medical professional’s negligent conduct and the avoidable or unnecessary harm suffered by the patient. The ‘but-for’ test is generally put in place to determine this. The question asked is, ‘Would the patient have sustained such harm but for the negligent conduct of the medical professional?’
Any evidence you collect will support these criteria. If you are able to do so, you will likely have a successful medical negligence claim.
You can contact our advisors for free anytime to help determine whether the circumstances of the harm suffered meet this requirement.
Is It Difficult To Prove Medical Negligence?
For most cases, it is not difficult to prove medical negligence, especially if you collect a sufficient amount of evidence to support your claim.
If you are having some difficulty obtaining evidence for your medical negligence claim, this is nothing to worry about. Our excellent panel of solicitors can provide guidance on how to get it and even collect some of it themselves.
To find out how our solicitors can help you prove medical negligence, get in touch with our helpful advisors.
How Can A Solicitor Help Me With A Medical Negligence Claim?
There are many ways a solicitor can help you with a medical negligence claim. Especially our excellent panel of solicitors at How Much Compensation. This is because they have undergone extensive training to become specialists in such claims and have acquired decades of combined experience.
Our panel of solicitors can help you claim medical negligence compensation by:
- Assisting you with gathering many forms of evidence of medical negligence needed to prove your claim
- Utilising their legal skills, knowledge and experience to build your claim
- Trying to settle your claim with the highest compensation payout possible for the harm you suffered
- Setting you up with appointments that you wouldn’t normally be able to get, such as physiotherapy and mental health services
- Helping you apply for interim payments to cover medical costs
- Negotiating compensation settlements with third parties on your behalf
However, one of the greatest benefits of claiming with our panel of solicitors is that you can receive their help on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means that you will only pay for their services if your claim is successful. Under such circumstances, your solicitor will take a small percentage of your compensation that is set by a legal cap to cover their success fee.
Contact Us
If you would like to start a medical neglience claim today, or have any questions about evidence to support a claim, please contact our advisors by:
- Giving them a call for free on 0800 408 7826 to thoroughly discuss your claim
- Submitting your question reviewed by our human advisors via live chat
Learn More
If you would like to learn more about medical negligence claims, you may read the informative guides that are linked below.
- A guide on compensation for medical negligence claims
- Information on claiming misdiagnosis compensation
- Learn about the time limit for starting a claim
References
- Information about good medical practice, GMC.ORG
- Learn about the role of a litigation friend, GOV.UK
- Find your nearest urgent care facility, NHS.UK
Thank you for reading this guide, which provides examples of evidence for medical negligence. Remember, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our advisors.
