Injured due to military medical negligence? 5 key things to know
Have you or a loved one suffered an injury during your service caused by substandard medical care? If so, you could be entitled to compensation.
The MOD has a legal obligation to provide a reasonable standard of healthcare to its personnel. In most cases such standard of care is met, however there can unfortunately be occasions when a poor level of care has been received. This can result in devastating and long-term injuries that can have impact on one’s military career.
When determining whether there has been a breach of duty of care, it must be considered whether the medical treatment provided fell below a reasonable standard of care.
When looking at what is deemed ‘reasonable’ care, it is based on whether other healthcare professionals, who are experienced in the same field, would agree with the actions taken. It must be noted that, just because a minority group would have treated a patient differently than what the majority would have done, does not mean that the minority group were acting negligently.
Essentially, service personnel would need to prove that no responsible body of medical opinion would have supported that decision.
Service personnel will need to show that the breach of duty of care resulted in harm that otherwise would have been avoided. If the breach of duty of care has resulted in no harm being caused, then the claim will ultimately fail. To succeed in a medical negligence claim, service personnel will need to prove both a breach of duty of care and causation.
Irrespective of whether someone is still in service or not, a claim in medical negligence must be brought within 3 years of:
(1) the date of negligence, or
(2) the date of knowledge of negligence, if later
This is known as a “limitation date”. It is a very important date, because if a deadline is missed to issue a claim form at court, then the claim will be time barred by statute, which may prevent the claim from being brought altogether in a court of England and Wales.
Service personnel who have suffered an injury during their employment can make a claim under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). This is a no-fault scheme, and the level of compensation awarded is based on a tariff system. Service personnel who are eligible to make a claim under the AFCS but have also suffered injury arising from medical negligence, should also consider making a separate civil claim alongside, to avoid the risk of being undercompensated for their injuries.
More information about AFCS can be found here: Armed Forces Compensation Scheme | Injuries Sustained During Service
There are several things that we cannot achieve when bringing a medical negligence claim. These include:
Asking a court to strike off a medical practitioner from the medical register
Requesting internal policies or procedures to be changed
Requiring that further training be given to the medical practitioner involved
These outcomes all fall outside of the court’s powers.
What our expert military sector team can do is seek to achieve compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity that service personnel have suffered because of the injury arising from medical negligence.
In addition, we can seek to recover financial losses that can accrue because of the injuries sustained, which may include:
Past and future care needed to assist personnel with daily living activities
Past and future loss of income and military pension (particularly where an injury affects promotion prospects or results in a medical discharge)
Past and future treatment costs
The cost of aids and equipment
Miscellaneous expenses
Contact Liam to discuss this further.
