Military And Armed Forces Medical Negligence Claims Guide

Military and armed forces medical negligence claims guide

Military medical negligence claims guide

By Brett Williams. Last updated 4th August 2021. If you have been injured, made ill, or had your pre-existing medical condition worsened because of military medical negligence, you could qualify to claim compensation for your injuries. If you are injured whilst serving in the military because of negligence caused by the armed forces, you can make a claim through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). What you may not know is that you can also make a compensation claim for armed forces medical negligence, directly against the military.

Whether your MOD medical negligence claim is an army medical negligence, RAF medical negligence, or a Royal Navy medical negligence claim, Accident Claims UK could provide you with an experienced personal injury solicitor to handle your compensation claim.

Why choose us to represent your claim? Our panel of medical negligence solicitors have up to thirty years experience in handling claims against the military, or civil medical service providers, and will always push to win you the maximum amount of compensation you are entitled to.

To begin your medical malpractice claim against the MoD, call Accident Claims UK for your free personal injury claims consultation. One of our informed advisers will discuss your claim in-depth, and if you have legitimate grounds to make a medical negligence claim against the armed forces, we will assign one of our medical negligence solicitors to start working on your claim today.

Call Accident Claims UK on 0800 073 8801 or use our online claims form to contact us to begin your claim for armed forces medical negligence today.

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A Guide To Military Medical Negligence Claims

The military provides healthcare to personnel when they are serving on active duty, or working on an army, RAF or military base. Military medical negligence can be medical negligence that a service person experiences after being injured while on duty, or when receiving treatment for a medical condition.

If you were injured, made ill, or had your pre-existing medical condition worsened because of negligent actions by a military doctor, nurse or other medical practitioners, you could make a medical negligence claim for compensation, in addition to your Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) compensation claim. This means that you would receive more funds should you win both cases which would ensure you get the best medical treatment going forward.

In this guide to making a claim for clinical negligence that you experienced whilst serving in the armed forces, we explain what medical negligence is, and how you can go about making a claim for medical negligence. We have also included an example personal injury claims calculator to help you to estimate how much compensation you could qualify to claim, and we explain the advantages of making a No Win No Fee claim.

Whether your injury was a psychiatric injury such as PTSD, a prescription error, or you were incorrectly treatment for military training injury, or your doctor makes a mistake whilst treating you for a break or fracture to a bone, spinal injury, cancer or any other type of injury, you could be entitled to make a military claim for compensation.

Contact Accident Claims UK today, and if you have legitimate grounds to claim compensation, we will provide you with a military specialist solicitor to handle your case.

What Is Clinical Or Medical Negligence?

All medical practitioners such as doctors, nurses and dentists have a legal duty of care towards their patients. This means that they are legally responsible for following standardised best practices within their profession, and to provide patients with the best possible standards of care. If a medical practitioner provides a patient with substandard care, and the patient becomes injured, ill or their pre-existing medical condition is worsened as a result, this is medical negligence.

Medical negligence is also known as medical malpractice, or clinical negligence. If a patient experiences medical negligence and is harmed as a result, they could have the right to make a medical negligence claim for compensation. As well as claiming compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity that they have experienced, they can also claim special damages compensation, to reimburse them for any financial losses that they have experienced, as a result of their injuries.

What Is A Medical Negligence Claim Against The Military?

When military personnel are on active duty, or working on a military base, they are provided with healthcare from the MOD (Ministry of Defence). Military personnel often work in dangerous or challenging environments, especially in times of war which means they are more likely to be injured than people working in other professions. An incident of medical negligence can occur when a member of the armed forces is injured in a combat situation, on active duty, or whilst receiving treatment for an injury, illness or medical condition they have for other reasons.

If you have been injured, made ill or had your pre-existing medical condition worsened because of RAF medical negligence, army medical negligence or Royal Navy medical negligence, you could  qualify to claim compensation. To find out whether you have a valid claim, please speak to our team of advisers at Accident Claims UK.  If you have legitimate grounds to claim, we will begin to work on your military medical negligence claim today.

Ministry Of Defence Duty Of Care

The Ministry of Defence owes all personnel a duty of care. This means they are responsible for doing everything they can to protect the health and safety of their personnel whilst they are working for them. As well as ensuring that working environments such as offices or military bases are safely set up, they also have a duty of care to ensure that warfare situations which are inherently dangerous, are not made needlessly dangerous due to incompetence.

Every doctor, nurse, psychiatrist or other practitioner working for the military has a duty of care towards the personnel they treat. If they provide a military service person with substandard medical treatment, and the soldier, or other service person is injured as a result, made ill or has their existing medical condition worsened, they could have the right to make a claim for medical negligence compensation.

Examples of a failure of the Ministry of Defence failing in their duty of care, include:

  • A psychiatrist evaluating a soldier, pilot or seaman and clearing them for active duty, when they are not psychologically fit to serve due to a psychiatric injury or existing psychological conditions such as PTSD
  • A military doctor evaluating a soldier, pilot or seaman and clearing them for active duty, when they are not physically fit to serve, due to an existing medical condition, injury or illness
  • A prescription error when a doctor prescribes the patient the wrong medication or the wrong dosage of medication
  • A military doctor misdiagnoses the patient’s condition, resulting in them receiving the wrong treatment or no treatment at all
  • Errors during surgery such as wrong-site surgery (when the wrong part of the body is operated on)

These are just some examples of how the military can breach its duty of care towards military personnel when an incident of medical negligence occurs. Whatever type of medical negligence you experienced whilst working for the MOD, contact Accident Claims UK about making a claim against the military for medical malpractice.

Was The Failure Systematic Or By A Individual?

Incidents of medical negligence in the armed forces can happen because of failings on the part of individual medical practitioners, or because of organisational failures. For example, a military doctor could misdiagnose a patient suffering from cancer because of a mistake that they made. Alternatively, systematic failures in the way a military hospital operates, an example being issues with staff training which can result in medical malpractice cases.

Causes Of Medical Negligence In The Military

Whether you were injured because of a mistake made by an individual or because of systematic failures, Accident Claims UK can handle your claims against the MoD for medical negligence. Call Accident Claims UK for your free consultation, and if you are eligible to make this type of claim, we could connect you to one of our personal injury lawyers to handle your case.

Types Of Armed Forces Medical Negligence

There are lots reasons why a member of military personnel might be seriously injured or die outside of active duty. These include being involved in an accident, suffering an illness, being injured in a terrorist attack, or suicide. Military training can also be strenuous and if not practised correctly, can result in a military training injury.

Military staff can also suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), a psychological condition that can happen as a result of traumatic experiences which soldiers can have on the battlefield. If PTSD is not diagnosed and treated, it can worsen over time and put the service person and others at risk. If you have experienced this, you could have grounds to make a PTSD negligence claim against the military.

Here are some further examples of medical negligence in the military:

  • Deployment related problems: If a member of military staff is deployed to an environment that is not suitable for them, given a medical condition they suffer from, the military could be held responsible for any worsening of their condition that can happen as a result. This could be the case if the environment is very hot or very cold
  • A mother to be serving in the military is given incorrect medical treatment during her pregnancy, or mistakes are made when a woman is giving birth. This can result in the mother or child suffering birth injuries, which in some instances can have lifelong consequences
  • The patient is given medication they are allergic to without the medical staff having checked first. For example, if a patient is allergic to penicillin and is prescribed it, this could result in the patient’s death
  • A broken bone or fractured bone not being set properly, prolonging the injured person’s suffering
  • Medical malpractice during orthopaedic surgery
  • The misdiagnosis of a time-bound condition like cancer. If cancer is misdiagnosed, it can spread and worsen. In some instances, the misdiagnosis of cancer means that the patient won’t survive the disease when they could have if their cancer had been diagnosed in a more timely manner

Remember, Accident Claims UK can provide you with an excellent military specialist solicitor who can handle your claim for injuries, an illness or the worsening of a pre-existing medical condition, caused by substandard care on the part of the Defence Medical Services. Call today to see if you are entitled to claim compensation.

How Does Armed Forces Healthcare Work? – Defence Medical Services

The military provides medical, dental and other healthcare services to its personnel via the Ministry of Defence and National Health Service. The aim of this is to keep personnel fit and healthy so they are able to carry out their service to the best of their abilities. Personnel are cared for by the Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDUHU), or at a specialist military unit within a civilian hospital. This is known as the Defence Medical Services (DMS) collectively. As well as military personnel, some civilians such as the children of military personnel, are entitled to healthcare from the Defence Medical Services.

To learn more about the Defence Medical Services, read this government guide.

When Are You Eligible To Make A Military Medical Negligence Claim?

If you have been injured, made ill or had your pre-existing medical condition worsened because of medical negligent actions by the MOD, you could be entitled to make a military medical negligence claim. Whether you have been harmed by army medical negligence, Royal Navy medical negligence or RAF medical negligence, you could qualify to claim compensation.

To begin your personal injury claim for medical negligence in the military, call us today, to see if you are entitled to claim compensation. If you have the right to claim, we will provide you with an experienced military claims solicitor to handle your Ministry of Defence medical negligence claim.

There is a personal injury claims time limit of three years. To be able to claim, you have to begin your MOD medical negligence claim within three years of your accident taking place, or three years from the time that you were diagnosed as suffering from a condition linked to the injuries you sustained through negligence.

You can sometimes make claims against the MOD after the personal injury claims time limit has passed, so if you experienced medical negligence more than three years ago, call Accident Claims UK to speak to an adviser to see if you still have legitimate grounds to claim and that there is enough time to do so.

As well as making a personal injury claim, you can also make a claim from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Call us today for your free legal consultation and we can advise you on how to go about this.

Military Medical Negligence Compensation Calculator – Updated August 2021

You can use our personal injury claims calculator to estimate how much your military medical negligence claim could be worth. Please note, the settlement amounts quoted in this calculator do not include the amount of special damages you could receive, and are not personalised to you. For a more accurate estimation of how much you could claim, call Accident Claims UK to speak to an adviser.

Edit
Injury How serious it was How much you could claim Comment
Back injury Moderate (i) and (ii) £11,730 – £36,390 How much could be claimed and whether an injury is classed as moderate (i) or moderate (ii) depends on the nature and severity of the injury, what impaact this has had on the claimant and how their ability to funciton has been impacted.
Arm injury Severe injuries £90,250 – £122,860 Whilst the arm affected will not have been amputated, the claimant is left in a position extremely similar to if it had been.
Leg injury Serious (iii) £36,790 – £51,460 The leg injury may leave the claimant with serious levels of fracture or similar levels of injury to the soft tissues.
Shoulder injury Moderate (C) £7,410 – £11,980 Frozen shouders and similar injuries which restrict the mobility of this joint.
Neck injury Serious (iii) £42,680 – £52,540 Such neck injury as those which cause a fracture, dislocations or similar type of severe
damage to the soft tissues.
Hand injury Less serious hand injury £13,570 – £27,220 Such as crush injuries or similar penetrating injuries to the hand(s).
Finger injury Serious Injury to Ring or Middle Fingers £13,970 – £15,330 Fractures or serious injuries affecting the tendons of the fingers.
Ankle injury Moderate £12,900 – £24,950 Injuries which could leave the ankle unstable in the future when walking or using the ankle.
Foot injury Moderate £12,900 – £23,460 These could include fractures to the metatarsals or similar symptoms which may result in permanent types of deformity / symptoms.
Toe injury Moderate Up to £9,010 Simples and less complex levels and forms of injury which affect the toes.

Special Damages In Armed Forces Medical Negligence Claims

If you win your claim against the military for medical negligence, you will be awarded two types of compensation. The first type will be general damages, which will pay you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity that your injuries caused you. You will also be able to claim special damages which will reimburse you for any types of financial losses you have endured, as a result of your medical negligence incident.

Examples of special damages you can claim for military medical negligence:

  • Medical expenses
  • Transport expenses
  • Expenses for home and car adaptations
  • Expenses and costs of mobility equipment
  • At home care expenses
  • Reimbursement for lost income

No Win No Fee Armed Forces Medical Medical Negligence Claims

At Accident Claims UK, we give all of the people we help the choice to make their claim through a No Win No Fee agreement. This means you will not need to pay a solicitors fee upfront. Instead, you will only need to pay your solicitors fee if and when you win your military medical negligence compensation claim.

In the unlikely scenario that you do not win your claim, you will not have to pay your fee, meaning that there should be a lower financial risk to you. To begin your No Win No Fee claim against the military for clinical negligence, call us today.

Why Choose Us To Handle Your Medical Negligence Claim Against The Armed Forces?

If you have legitimate grounds to make a medical negligence claim against the armed forces, we can provide you with an excellent military accident claims solicitor to handle your case. Our military specialist solicitors have approximately thirty years experience in working on medical malpractice claims, and will always fight to secure you the highest amount of compensation that you could qualify to claim. Call now to speak to an adviser today.

Start Your Military Medical Negligence Claim

Call Accident Claims UK now for a free personal injury claims consultation. If you have legitimate grounds to claim compensation, one of our excellent No Win No Fee claims solicitors will start working on your case as soon as possible. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Essential References

Clinical And Medical Negligence Claims Guide – How to claim compensation.

Military Injury Claims – How to claim compensation if injured whilst working for the military.

What Are My Legal Rights After An Accident At Work? – Find out about your rights if injured in the workplace.

Duty of Care: Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces – The duty of care owed by the MoD to all employees.

Welfare And Duty of Care In Armed Forces: Initial Training – Armed forces duty of care during training.

Defence Medical Services (DMS) – The defence medical service.

Thank you for reading our guide on starting armed forces medical negligence claims. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Article by HC (Hanna)

Editor Honey