If your medical negligence claim is successful, you will be given a sum of money which acts as a form of compensation. But how much compensation for medical negligence will you receive?
Claiming for perineal tears
Birth injuries such as perineal tears often lead to successful medical negligence claims. This is because perineal tears should be diagnosed and treated immediately after the birth. If medical practitioners fail to achieve this, the level of care will be considered substandard.
If a substandard level of care causes a patient to suffer injuries that could otherwise have been avoided, there will be grounds for a medical negligence claim.
For instance, a 3rd degree tear that is not repaired may result in ongoing faecal urgency and incontinence. On the balance of probabilities, these problems would have been avoided, had the tear been diagnosed and repaired shortly after the delivery.
Because a substandard level of medical care has caused a patient to suffer unnecessary harm, she should be compensated for the injuries wrongfully incurred.
Compensation for perineal tears
If a solicitor tells you that you have grounds to make a perineal tear claim, you will be able to pursue legal action against the medical practitioner and/or hospital responsible.
As long as you win your claim, you will be given compensation. This is intended to act as a form of redress for the pain and suffering you have endured because of medical error. It is also intended to put you back in the financial position you were in before the negligence happened.
Therefore your compensation settlement is made up of two elements:
- General damages, to reflect your emotional/physical pain and suffering, and your loss of amenity
- Special damages, to reflect your financial loss, including past/future loss of earnings and the cost of medical treatment
How much compensation?
We have explored what you will get medical negligence compensation for. But exactly how much compensation will you get? It is hard to answer this question because it will depend entirely on your own individual circumstances.
Your general damages will be assessed by your solicitor and barrister. They will look at how severe your injuries are and compare them to judicial guidelines. For example, a missed 3rd degree tear which causes anal incontinence can be expected to achieve around £45,000 to £50,000.
Your special damages will be calculated by your solicitor in a document called a Schedule of Damages. It will include a list of everything you have lost because of the negligence.
Thus if you have been left with severe injuries and have lost a significant sum of money, your claim could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Find out more about compensation
For more information about medical negligence compensation, please get in touch with us today.