If you have suffered as a result of medical negligence or malpractice, you may be entitled to compensation.

While most forms of medical treatment involve risk, patients are entitled to trust that a doctor will exercise reasonable care, skill and judgment.

Unfortunately, the line between what is medical negligence and what isn’t can be extremely fine. Due to inherent risks of medical treatment, treatment and outcomes will rarely be completely perfect. To succeed with a medical negligence claim it is necessary to prove:

1. That a doctor owes you a duty of care;
2. That a doctor has done something that does not constitute part of widely accepted practice; and
3. That damage has occurred – i.e. you must somehow be worse off as a result of the treatment.

On occasion, courts may also award compensation where:

1. There has been a failure by a doctor to warn a patient about a risk;
2. The risk has eventuated; and
3. The patient is able to establish they would not have had the treatment had they been properly advised of the risk.

If you think you have experienced medical negligence, the team at Baker Deane and Nutt are here to talk through your experience and help you find a resolution.