What is a clinical negligence claim for compensation?
Clinical negligence To understand what a “clinical negligence claim” is we must look at the meaning of each word in turn. “Clinical” – this refers to the medical and dental professions. It includes doctors, consultants, nurses, the NHS, dentists, the ambulance service etc. “Negligence” – for example: in the medical profession this means that a doctor acted with skill at a lower standard than that to normally be expected of a doctor. When it comes to diagnosis – a doctor must show that he acted in accordance with a respected group of medical thought to avoid being negligent. It does not mean that he has to have acted with the only group of medical thought as there are likely to be several. “Claim” – this can be a claim for compensation for personal injury, financial loss or both. So a “clinical negligence claim” is a claim for compensation for mistakes made by the medical and dental professions. The term “medical negligence” was originally used before “clinical negligence” and is still
