Medical Negligence

[johnny37]

Is there a cut-off time for claims? It is a long time ago, approx 30yrs. The patient involved was 2yo so could not make his own decisions, until recently. Where is the best place to start? With your GP?

[NoMercy]

I think the patient has until the age of 21 to take legal action. This is according to a colleague of mine who suffered life changing injuries when she was being born.

[Peter Pedant]

yes there is a cut off ( of course )
in your case it is six years from the time of notice

the patients I estimate is 32 y of age and could bring the action themselves or thro an agent acting on their behalf

here is the best place to start ?
start what ? your GP is a doctor not a lawyer ...

so for a law thing .... you have to go and see a lawyer ....( well OK he does) and it possible he will be legally aided but that is much more uncommon now

[johnny37]

I mentioned the GP because not only is he familliar with the case, this must be very common in the medical 'industry' so he will know how to start off.

[murraymints]

agree a lawyer is your first port of call...

[murraymints]

and it is very costly pursuing such actions..civil matter not criminal so highly unlikely to get any legal aid..

[ummmm]

I would say lawyer also but when I went to my GP with injuries after being knocked over he recommended one.

It wasn't a 'no win, no fee' type.

[woofgang]

I believe that paper based medical records need only to be kept for 20 years after the last entry now or for children’s records until the 26th birthday of the child. I have a vague memory that the 20 years is fairly new and that it used to be 10 years after the last entry, so there may be problems gathering evidence, and of course there will be the issue that the people involved will be retired or dead and the culpable organisations may no longer exist.
Can I suggest that a good starting point would be a fixed fee interview with a solicitor? Before this, the person should gather as much factual information as they can, eg names of organisations (and what happened to the organisation during the various reorganisations within the NHS) any names of staff involved, memories of parents or family members and so on. The more base work your friend can do, the better the advice will be from the solicitor and it will save time (and therefore money) if the case goes forward. The GP is unlikely to have knowledge or interest. If they are approached about a complaint, they will pass the complaint on to the practice manager. If its thought that the surgery may have notes of the issue then they can be requested via the surgery’s process. If the Gp is not the GP that the person had as a child, or its not the same surgery then there is no point starting there.

[bednobs]

if it's to do with a hospital, the following record retention applies:
Maternity records (including all obstetric and midwifery records, including those of episodes of maternity care that end in stillbirth or where the child later dies) 25 years after the birth of the last child
Children and young people Retain until the patient's 25th birthday or 26th if young person was 17 at conclusion of treatment, or 8 years after death
Mentally disordered persons within the meaning of any Mental Health Act 20 years after the date of last contact between the patient or client or service user and any health or care professional employed by the mental health provider, or 8 years after the death of the patient or client or service user if sooner
All other hospital records (other than non-specified secondary care records) 8 years after the conclusion of treatment or death

[bednobs]

so not a cut off times for claims, but getting records might now be problematic

[bednobs]

gp records as follows
GP records GP Records retain for 10 years after death or after the patient has permanently left the country unless the patient remains in the European Union. In the case of a child if the illness or death could have potential relevance to adult conditions or have genetic implications for the family of the deceased, the advice of clinicians should be sought as to whether to retain the records for a longer period.

Electronic patient records (EPRs) must not be destroyed, or deleted, for the foreseeable future.

[cassa333]

Why have they only been able to make decisions independently until recently? Assuming they have maturity at 18yrs that still leave and intervening 12 yrs.

[Barmaid]

Best place is a lawyer. You have a 3 year time limit on personal injury claims. Normally limitation starts running at 18 (thus the 21 quoted by NoM). However, if the person was under a disabiity limitation will not start to run. You need to see a lawyer asap because once that clock starts, you'd be surprised how quickly the time ticks by. Plus limitation jobs are complicated.