A&E claims
Accident and Emergency (A&E) doctors are constantly challenged to make a quick diagnosis under pressure. However, they are trained to cope with such pressure.
Standard of care
Difficulties often arise when the most junior and inexperienced of doctors are faced with a number of frequent accident and emergency issues. You are however, as a patient, entitled to an appropriate standard of care in the accident and emergency department of a hospital.
Delays
Whilst it is generally accepted that there may be some delays, such delays cannot excuse either a misdiagnosis or poor management, or a failure to refer to a specialist department.
Injuries or damage as a result of failure at accident and emergency departments are often not picked up until further treatment is considered. This may be some time down the line.
Occasionally some failures involve the interpretation of x-rays or radiology. These may be picked up fairly quickly and in those circumstances no damage of a long-term nature may have been caused.
If there is a substantial delay in diagnosis then the overall outcome might be seriously affected and you should then seek appropriate legal advice.
Your compensation claim
Whether or not the standard of care afforded to you at the accident and emergency department has been satisfactory will require expert evidence.
At Linder Myers we are used to dealing with such experts in order to prove your claim.
