Paramedic Negligence Claims

Negligent treatment by paramedics and ambulance crews can have devastating results for patients. At Sheldon Davidson Solicitors, we represent individuals who have suffered injuries or worsened health conditions due to negligent acute care, as well as those who have lost loved ones due to inadequate or incorrect treatment by emergency services.

These can be emotionally fraught cases. If the injury was to yourself, you may still be living with considerable pain, possibly alongside a negative impact on your finances such as unexpected costs for medical treatment or lost earnings.

In extreme cases of negligent care by paramedics or ‘first-responders’, lives can be lost.

If you have lost a family member due to poor treatment by the emergency services, we understand the pain you will be feeling and how difficult you may find it to discuss the details.

In Sheldon Davidson Solicitors, you will find a dedicated team of medical negligence claims experts, with the experience and capability to help you and your family when you are most in need.

Not only can we help you claim compensation for the injuries suffered, financial losses incurred due to the incident, and future provisions that may be required to help you return to independent living. We can also ensure the best private medical treatment is made available to you, to progress your recovery in the best way.

Our expert medical negligence solicitors have handled many cases of ambulance and paramedic negligence in the past and will treat your claim not only with total confidence but also with empathy and understanding at this extremely challenging time.

Can I claim for Paramedic Negligence?

When paramedics make mistakes or carry out harmful procedures as part of emergency treatment, resulting in injury or worse, it is very likely you will have strong grounds to claim injury compensation.

In order to have grounds for a claim, the care you receive must be below a reasonable standard. That is to say, it must be likely that if a different competent paramedic had treated you, your injuries could have been avoided, or significantly lessened.

Compensation primarily covers the pain and suffering caused by the incident, known as ‘general damages’, but a whole range of additional factors can be considered in respect of financial losses incurred, including those that may be encountered in the future due to the injuries sustained.

‘Special damages’ cover a multitude of items, compensating you if you cannot return to your chosen career or in some cases, where a person may never be able to work again. Other items, including; additional costs of care, additional travel costs, adaptations to the home and mobility aids are examples just some of these additional considerations made under ‘special damages’

We can help you to decide whether to make a claim. Every case is different, so we will always consider your circumstances and tell you if we believe you have grounds to proceed. For example, ambulance crews sometimes do everything that could be reasonably expected but are still not able to prevent a serious injury, or a complication that may arise, or even death.

How to claim for Paramedic Negligence?

We can guide you through the process of making a compensation claim. One of our friendly and professional team will start by going through the details of your case with you. We know this might not be easy for you to do, but it is important for us to understand exactly how you were treated and how this may have affected the outcome.

If we believe, based on our many years of experience in this area, that a reasonable standard of care could have had a better outcome for you, we will let you know. This can then form the basis of a compensation claim that, if necessary, we can take to the courts on your behalf.

You are in control of the process throughout. We will only proceed if you decide you want to. We work on a no-win, no-fee basis, so you don't need to worry about the cost of legal representation in order to make a claim. We will always take care to understand how you are feeling so that the claim process is not stressful or distressing for you.

You can find more detailed information about how to start a medical negligence claim here.

If you have any questions at any time, just contact us and we will be happy to help. We are always here for you.

Why Does Paramedic Negligence happen?

Many different factors can result in a poor standard of urgent care during medical emergencies. Finding out why the incident occurred is important to show that the paramedics could have done better. If your injuries were worsened by the standard of care you received, then we will try to understand why your treatment was not as good as it could have been.

Some examples include:

• Slow emergency response due to a lack of paramedic resources.
• Delayed treatment and worsened health outcomes due to slow response.
• Physical mishandling, e.g. excessive force or dropping/bumping patients.
• Misdiagnosis or failure to identify serious and life-threatening conditions.
• Incorrect administration of medication or resuscitation procedures.

These are just some specific examples of the kinds of things that can go wrong during an ambulance emergency call-out. In terms of why these occur, there can be many causes, including a lack of resources, tired and overworked paramedics who do not think clearly, poorly labelled drugs and equipment in the ambulance, or external factors like heavy traffic that prevent the ambulance from reaching the scene quickly.

What might the effects of negligent paramedic care be?

Poor treatment during an ambulance call-out can have negative effects that last for a very long time, including permanent injury or even death in the worst cases.

In general, there are three types of negative outcome:

• Temporary or permanent physical injury
• Emotional pain and suffering
• Loss of a loved one

Even if you recover from the physical injury you suffer, you may experience lasting psychological effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or insomnia. A compensation claim can take these emotional effects into account - it does not have to relate directly to physical injury or financial losses incurred.

When the gravest outcomes occur, we know that nothing can take away the pain of losing a family member. In cases where paramedic negligence resulted in death, we will represent you sensitively and offer you the additional support you need to gain a sense of closure and to begin the long healing process.

Why Choose Sheldon Davidson Solicitors?

We understand the trauma, both physical and mental, that can occur when you rely on the emergency services and they fail to deliver the expected standard of care. Since 1997, we have helped many affected families across England and Wales to make important claims that highlight negligent treatment and ensure lessons are learned for the future.

Sheldon Davidson Solicitors are based in Greater Manchester, and our clients can be found throughout the local area, in Radcliffe, Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Prestwich, Bury and beyond across the north-west and nationwide. We are proud of the support we provide to our clients during what is often the most difficult time in their family history.

We want to help. By providing legal services on a no-win, no-fee basis, we ensure the cost of representation does not prevent you from making a claim. Nobody should feel unable to claim compensation when their family has fallen victim to negligent urgent care.

We work hard to provide the highest standard of representation possible. We are a Lexcel accredited personal injury law firm, which recognises our level of practice management and our commitment to the highest standards of customer service for clients faced with physical injury, severe long-term health challenges, and financial losses due to an injury that was not their fault.

At all times, we work for you. We are caring and committed, we will give you honest guidance based on our many years of experience, and we will go the extra mile to support you in your physical rehabilitation and emotional recovery.

To find out more about how our ambulance negligence claims solicitors can help, get in touch with our team today.

Contact us

If you would like to speak to a member of the Sheldon Davidson Solicitors team, please contact us. We welcome all communications - if you are unsure whether you have grounds to make a claim, we can offer initial support to help you make that decision. This includes a full consultation to discuss the circumstances of your case and how you can proceed.

You can call us by phone for an immediate chat, or email us if you would prefer to put things in writing. We know sometimes it can be easier to write things down than to say them out loud when they are upsetting.

We also offer a callback service. Just send us a text message via SMS and we will be in touch to schedule a consultation.

As legal experts in all forms of hospital negligence claims, we are here for you at any time. All calls are welcome during office hours, or you can email us if the office is closed and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Compensation cannot always heal the hurt, but it can help with financial hardship and emotional suffering. If you have been affected by paramedic negligence, please do get in touch - we are here to help.