Hospital Missed A Collapsed Lung, What Could Your Claim Be Worth?
Throughout our helpful guide, we look at when the eligibility requirements that must be met to start a medical negligence compensation claim following an incident involving a hospital that missed your collapsed lung and the potential settlement you could be awarded.
Hospital Missed A Collapsed Lung, What Could Your Claim Be Worth?
As we refer to it, medical negligence is the breach of duty of care from a medical professional that has led to an avoidable injury. All medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients to provide the proper standard of care that is expected. We explore how a breach of this could lead to a condition being missed later in our guide.
We also look at how to prove liability along with how to prove the extent of your suffering by providing examples of the evidence you could collect in support of your hospital negligence claim.
Furthermore, we take a look at how our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors can benefit you should you have a valid claim and wish for legal representation moving forward.
Contact us today to talk about your circumstances and what you can do next. We can assess your case and connect you with a solicitor from our panel who has years of expertise representing claims for medical negligence and can help you today. Our contact details are:
- Phone number 020 3870 4868.
- Send your details via our ‘Claim Online‘ form.
- Use our live chat box and message an online claims advisor.
Jump To A Section
- What Could Your Hospital Negligence Claim Be Worth?
- A Hospital Missed My Collapsed Lung Injury – Can I Claim?
- How Do You Prove Causation In A Claim For Medical Negligence?
- Could A Hospital Miss A Collapsed Lung?
- How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help With Hospital Negligence Claims?
- Discover More About What To Do If A Hospital Missed Your Collapsed Lung
What Could Your Hospital Negligence Claim Be Worth?
If you make a successful medical negligence claim, there may be up to two heads of claim that make up your overall settlement.
Firstly, general damages will compensate for the pain and suffering you experienced due to the medical negligence. Examples of the possible factors that can help determine how much you receive under this head include:
- The length of your recovery period.
- How severe the harm you experienced was.
- How your quality of life has changed.
Your solicitor will evaluate the value of your general damages award by taking a look at your independent medical assessments and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) document. The JCG contains all sorts of harm types at varying severities with corresponding guideline award brackets.
Injuries Table
The table below contains figures from the JCG. Your case will be assessed uniquely though so these figures aren’t a guarantee.
| Harm Type | Severity Level | Comments | Guideline Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | There is a need for full-time nursing care because of little or no language function, little evidence of the person having a response that is meaningful to their environment, and double incontinence. | £282,010 to £403,990 |
| Moderate (c) (i) | Intellectual deficit ranging from moderate to severe with a change in personality, and an effect on the senses. | £150,110 to £219,070 | |
| Chest | Total removal of one lung and/or serious damage to the heart (a) | Prolonged and serious pain and suffering with scarring that is permanent and significant. | £100,670 to £150,110 |
| Chest and lung damage (c) | Resulting in some ongoing disability. | £31,310 to £54,830 | |
| Lung | Breathing difficulties (d) | An inhaler will need to be used fairly frequently. | £31,310 to £54,830 |
| Other chest problems (h) | Resolving within a few months. | £2,200 to £5,320 |
Claiming Special Damages
On the other hand, special damages compensate for the financial losses you have incurred directly because of medical negligence. Examples of the costs you could claim back under this head include:
- Past and future loss of earnings from missing work.
- Travel costs, such as taxis or buses to and from medical appointments.
- Care costs for help at home.
- Home adaptations.
You must keep hold of receipts, payslips, invoices, travel tickets and bank statements as evidence of your financial losses.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information on what you could receive in compensation if a hospital missed your collapsed lung and you made a successful claim.
A Hospital Missed My Collapsed Lung Injury – Can I Claim?
As mentioned, medical professionals must provide care to their patients that meets the correct standard. This is their duty of care which extends to doctors, nurses, and surgeons.
In order to begin a medical negligence claim following a hospital missed your collapsed lung, you will need to prove medical negligence occurred by showing the following criteria:
- You were owed a duty of care by a medical professional.
- A medical professional in charge of your care breached this duty.
- You suffered harm that was unnecessary or could have otherwise been avoided because of this breach.
Time Limits To Be Aware Of
You have three years to begin a claim following medical negligence. The time limit either starts from the date you suffered avoidable harm as a result of a medical professional providing substandard care or from the date you became aware that this breach causing avoidable harm occurred.
The time limit is sometimes suspended for a couple of mitigating circumstances, however. By contacting us today, you can learn more about the medical negligence claims time limit and its exceptions.
We can also provide further guidance on the eligibility criteria that need to be met in order for you to have valid grounds to pursue compensation. So why not call the number above for more information?
How Do You Prove Causation In A Claim For Medical Negligence?
When making a claim for medical negligence, you need to show that the medical professionals in charge of your care failed to provide care that met the correct standard. You also need to show that this resulted in you suffering harm that was unnecessary or could have been avoided.
As such, you could benefit from collecting evidence, such as:
- Copies of your medical records, such as CT scans.
- Contact details from any witnesses. This can include anyone that attended your medical appointments with you.
- Dated diary entries of yours where you have recorded your symptoms and psychological effects.
Additionally, The Bolam Test may be performed. This is a test that a board of medical professionals within a similar field conduct. It involves them examining the steps the medical professionals in charge of your care took. They will then determine if the correct standard of care was given. You won’t be expected to arrange this yourself. Also, whether or not it’s carried out can depend on your specific case.
If you are represented by a solicitor from our panel, they can help you by collecting the appropriate evidence you need. To find out whether they can assist you through the medical negligence claims process, get in touch with us today.
Could A Hospital Miss A Collapsed Lung?
If a collapsed lung is missed, it could have several impacts. For example, it could lead to damage of the surrounding organs, such as the heart. Additionally, it could lead to a brain injury due to the reduced oxygen from the collapsed lung.
Below, we have provided examples of how your collapsed lung could have been missed.
- A doctor may not recognise your symptoms as those of a collapsed lung and failing to correctly diagnose you. Instead, they misdiagnose you with a different condition instead, such as angina due to the similarity in symptoms. This could result in delayed treatment for the collapsed lung leading to brain damage from a lack of circulated oxygen.
- There may have been a failure by a doctor in the hospital to carry out any tests to diagnose your condition. Instead, they diagnose you with a different illness and provide the wrong treatment, such as the wrong medication. This could lead to your condition worsening as well as you experiencing complications from the incorrect treatment you receive.
- When determining whether you have a collapsed lung, you are sent for a scan. However, the scan is carried out incorrectly and your condition is missed. This leads to your condition worsening and causing damage to the surrounding organs, such as the heart.
To discuss your specific case, please call an advisor on the number above.
How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help With Hospital Negligence Claims?
If a your collapsed lung was missed because a medical professional breached their duty of care and this has caused you avoidable harm, you could benefit from having a medical negligence solicitor off our panel represent your claim. All solicitors from our panel are experienced in claims of this nature and offer their services under a No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
You can benefit from this type of contract by not having any upfront or ongoing costs to pay your solicitor for their work at the start or throughout the claims process. There are also no costs for your solicitor’s work if you do not win your claim.
For a successful claim, your No Win No Fee solicitor will take a percentage of your compensation award as their success fee. The law sets a maximum limit to the percentage they can take to ensure the majority of your compensation goes to you.
Contact us today and if your claim is eligible we can connect you with a solicitor from our panel. Alternatively, we can answer any questions you might have about your potential hospital negligence claim. To learn more:
- Phone 020 3870 4868.
- Send your details via our ‘Claim Online‘ form.
- Use our live chat box and message an online claims advisor.
Discover More About What To Do If A Hospital Missed Your Collapsed Lung
More of our guides:
- Learn how to report a doctor for medical negligence and when you could potentially seek compensation.
- Find out whether you could claim compensation for drug errors after a medical professional breached their duty of care.
- Read about whether you could claim for unnecessary surgery and the medical negligence compensation you could potentially receive.
External resources:
- NHS – Information on collapsed lungs.
- General Medical Council (GMC) – Information on the duties of a doctor.
- GOV.UK – Information on receiving Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you require time off work due to medical negligence.
We hope this guide on making a claim for medical negligence following an incident involving a hospital that missed a collapsed lung and the compensation you could be awarded has been helpful. Get in touch using the contact details provided above if you have any other questions.
