As with most of the areas around claims of medical negligence, the rules regarding the time during which you are eligible to make a claim can be somewhat complicated. It’s for this reason that, if you feel you may be suffering as a result of medical negligence, the first thing you should do is get in touch with NoWinNoFee.com to discuss your case and receive free impartial advice as to whether you’re in a position to pursue compensation.
The law sets out specific time limits for medical negligence claims, although there are a few exceptions to these rules. Put simply, a patient has a period of three years from the date upon which they became aware that they’d suffered harm as a result of medical negligence. It should be noted that this doesn’t mean three years from the date of the treatment itself, since in some cases it may be years before the damage which has been done becomes apparent.
The two main exceptions to this three year rule are if the patient was a child at the time of the injury, in which case there is no time limit, and if the patient was mentally ill at the time, in which case the three years is counted from the time of their recovery from mental illness.
It should be noted, however, that in exceptional cases the judge may decide to allow a case which doesn’t meet any of these criteria to proceed anyway, which merely underlines the desirability of seeking expert advice before embarking upon a claim for compensation. The obvious conclusion is that if you suspect you may have been the victim of medical negligence then it’s best to look into making a claim at the earliest opportunity.
