If you have concerns about care that you or your baby have received and would like to look into taking legal action, we can help. Our team is very experienced in handling complex medical claims and we have all undergone trauma and grief training.

The first thing we will do is speak to you and take a detailed summary of what has happened. We can do this at a time that is right for you, either on the phone, by video call or in-person, whatever you prefer. We will also discuss the funding of your claim to ensure we find the best option for you. Once we have the necessary funding in place, we will recover all of your medical records, review them and then take a detailed statement from you and anyone else who was present for the key events.

The next step is to instruct an independent medical expert to review your records and your statement and thereafter provide written comment on your case. They will do this by applying the Scottish test for medical negligence, otherwise known as ‘breach of duty’ which comes from the case of Hunter v Hanley. This test comes in three parts:

1. That there is a usual and normal practice;
2. That there was a failure to follow that practice in your case; and
3. That the failure to follow that usual and normal practice in your case was something which no ordinarily competent clinician would have done if acting with ordinary skill and care.

This can be a difficult test to overcome.

Once breach of duty has been established, another expert report may be required to confirm whether that breach caused or materially contributed to the death. This can be a very difficult question to answer and unfortunately is often the point at which medical negligence cases fail, especially in a situation where things have gone wrong very quickly.

Once we have supportive expert evidence in place, we will write to the healthcare provider to let them know the detail of the potential case against them and ask them to investigate. Even in situations where a complaint has been upheld and an apology has been issued by a healthcare provider, their legal team will still need to investigate what has happened, as the questions to be explored in a complaint can be very different to those in a negligence claim.

If you would like further advice, please contact us on 0131 200 1200 and ask for the medical negligence team, or email us at medicalnegligence@balfour-manson.co.uk