Leading Yorkshire clinical negligence lawyers are warning that proposed government cutbacks to Legal Aid could seriously affect patients’ entitlement to damages.
The coalition government’s proposed changes could adversely affect all patients who suffer avoidable injury as a result of medical errors. This may prevent patients from obtaining any compensation or, where a successful claim is pursued, being forced to accept only 75 per cent of their agreed compensation, warns Nick Gray, of the Hull firm of Williamsons Solicitors.
“Under the current civil justice system one of the central guiding principles is that the victim of any ‘wrong’ should receive appropriate monetary compensation to put them back in the position they would have been, had the ‘wrong’ not occurred,” said Mr Gray.
“In some cases this is a relatively straightforward exercise, but for those individuals who suffer a catastrophic injury, perhaps as a result of a medical mistake, this is extremely difficult, for example, a baby who suffers brain damage at birth and as a result, requires life-long 24-hour care and support.
“The government intends to force injured patients to contribute towards their legal costs, instead of the losing party, such as a hospital, paying all the patient’s legal costs. This could mean the injured patient paying for legal costs of up to 25 per cent of what is very carefully calculated compensation.
“Why is that considered fair and just? Why should the losing party, whose actions caused the patient to suffer injury, not pay all of the compensation and legal costs?”
Mr Gray said that the proposed changes will result in significant savings to the government and insurers, but ignore the fact that any shortfall will be payable by the innocent injured party.
“Perhaps this explains why the government is unwilling to listen to any rational objections,” he said. “However, it also ignores the fact that any shortfall will be payable by the innocent injured party. This cannot be right. The poorest and most vulnerable are those who will be affected most.”
Mr Gray said that to compound matters further, Legal Aid is to be withdrawn for all legal cases involving medical errors. He said that if the planned changes were already in place, Williamsons could not have obtained a Legal Aid certificate to investigate a case on behalf of the family of Hull man, Mr Mark Bonehill, who died at Hull Royal Infirmary in 2009.
“This will result in fewer patients being in a position to bring legal claims and find out if avoidable errors have been made in their treatment. This is because ‘no win, no fee’ agreements, the only other way to pay for a legal case, would not be offered to those patients whose cases are complicated or very expensive to pursue,” added Mr Gray.
“As solicitors working in the area of clinical negligence, we are very aware of the impact that the proposed changes will have on the general public.
“We believe that the impact should be made clear to the general public so that they have the opportunity to voice their concerns.”
For further information, please contact the clinical negligence department at Williamsons Solicitors in Hull or visit www.williamsons-solicitors.co.uk
CASE STUDY
More than just money – the unnecessary death of Mr Mark Bonehill, age 43
Without Legal Aid, the family of Mr Mark Bonehill would not have received a penny of their £300,000 compensation and the mistakes at the hospital that caused his death could still be happening now.
When Mr Bonehill’s widow, Karen, and their daughter Abigail first approached Williamsons Solicitors in 2009, they only had a suspicion that the medical care provided to the late Mr Bonehill at Hull Royal Infirmary was negligent, resulting in his unnecessary death.
Despite pursuing an NHS complaint, the subsequent investigation was only cursory and failed to identify the serious errors in Mark’s care that led to him dying from a pulmonary embolism.
With the support of Legal Aid, Williamsons Solicitors was in a position to obtain independent expert evidence and this was very critical of Mark’s treatment.
If the government’s proposed Legal Aid changes were already in place, Williamsons Solicitors says it could not have obtained a Legal Aid certificate to investigate a case on their behalf.
Eventually, the firm negotiated a £300,000 settlement on behalf of Mark’s family.
Furthermore, changes were made at the Hull Royal Infirmary to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
If Legal Aid had not been available, it is unlikely that this case would have been pursued.
As a result:
- The true reasons for Mr Bonehill’s death would not have been uncovered,
- No future changes would have been made at the Hull Royal Infirmary and
- Mr Bonehill’s family would not have received the compensation to which they were entitled.
Even if Williamsons Solicitors had agreed to investigate matters, the compensation would have been reduced by £21,000, to contribute towards legal costs.
