GP Negligence
How to make a GP negligence claim
If you're concerned about the standard of treatment or medical care received from your doctor, you may wish to seek legal advice on GP negligence. Many people get to know their GP well, and they believe they have a good understanding of their health history. However, in rare cases, the level of care may fall below what you expect, causing you injury.
We can help. L&M MediLaw can guide you through the process with compassion and understanding. We know the impact such an injury may have on your life. Our team is led by Elizabeth Rose, a highly experienced and accredited medical negligence solicitor.
To discuss how we can help you with a GP negligence claim, call us today on 0141 471 3078 or complete our online contact form and we will get back to you right away.
GP care in Scotland
Your local GP surgery is often your first point of contact when you become ill. For this reason, it’s referred to by the NHS as ‘primary care’. Your General Practitioner is skilled in treating a variety of ailments and illnesses and will treat the very young to the very old.
In Scotland, to access General Practice Services you must be registered with a GP Practice.
Within a GP practice you may also see a practice nurse, district nurse or midwife. Appointments can be telephone, face-to-face or via a video platform, such as the NHS Near Me service, particularly in response to the Covid pandemic.
Many people get to know their GP well and a GP will often have a good overview of your general health and wellbeing. A positive relationship with your GP can be very helpful in accessing secondary care (such as specialist medical services at the hospital) as well as with allied health professionals (such as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy).
If you or a family member have a concern about treatment received from a GP, most GP practices have their own internal complaints procedure. It can be helpful to raise GP complaints directly with the Practice Manager to see whether the issue can be resolved.
Making a claim against a GP
If you have been in the unfortunate position of suffering an injury as a result of what you believe to be incompetent care, then you may wish to seek legal advice.
L&M MediLaw will listen to you and provide initial advice. As a starting point, we will ask you two important questions:
1. Who was providing the treatment
GPs need to arrange their own indemnity, similar to insurance and so we require the name of the individual.
2. What happened and why you believe there was ‘negligent treatment’ that resulted in an injury or poorer outcome.
You may already have complaint documentation and we would review this along with any other paper work you have.
L&M MediLaw Claims process
L&M MediLaw will assess the case and provide advice on whether there are reasonable grounds for pursuing a medical negligence claim. Once a GP case is open we will recover your medical records from your GP practice and most likely all your hospital records and other relevant information.
This will be reviewed and, if advised, we will instruct a suitable independent GP expert to provide an opinion on the actions or inaction of your GP. If this report is supportive of wrongdoing, a second independent expert report is ordinarily required to comment on what the outcome was as a result of the wrongdoing (negligent treatment) Claims against a GP can only be taken forward as cases if there was an injury or death as a result of the wrongdoing.
If all reports are supportive, then a claim will be intimated directly to the relevant GP. This claim letter will be then passed to the indemnifiers (the organisation who would be responsible for meeting a successful claim). This organisation will then carry out its own investigation and will either admit responsibility for the wrongdoing or will defend the actions of the GP.
L&M MediLaw will provide straightforward and accessible advice in either situation. If appropriate, we will take GP complaints and raise a court action on your behalf to achieve financial compensation. L&M MediLaw will ensure you are supported through the entire process and will maximise any compensation award due to you.
Contact our GP negligence solicitors in Glasgow today
When you have been failed by your GP, L&M MediLaw can support you with compassionate, professional legal services. We have offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh city centre and serve clients all across Scotland.
To discuss your GP negligence claim with a lawyer you can trust, call our team today on 0141 471 3078 or complete our online enquiry form and we will get back to you.