The impact of clinical negligence on family members | Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Blog | Kingsley Napley

The harrowing experience of seeing a family member in pain and distress is something that no person wishes to experience. But the added complexity of knowing that this experience could have been avoided, further doubles the anguish that families experience when their loved one has been provided with negligent treatment or advice.

In our recent blog ‘Who cares for the carers’, we discussed the importance of recognising the impact medical negligence has on the family members of those affected.

For the loved ones of those pursuing a medical negligence claim, they do not only have to become their advocate in assisting or encouraging the individual in pursuing a claim but they also live through the day to day. Overnight, their life may have equally changed from one of normality to living side by side as a carer or becoming a shoulder to lean on emotionally. Not only will family members have to experience seeing a physical decline but there also may be the psychological impact with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The toll of seeing someone change is not be under-estimated. The impact on a family or loved one of a claimant can be equally traumatic as to the person who experienced the negligent treatment or advice.

For example, for a child it may be a parent who now experiences chronic pain day to day, struggles to get out of bed and no longer is able to show up as a parent both physically or emotionally as they did before.

For a parent, it may result in a caring responsibility for the rest of their life and the fear of what may happen after their death. Alternatively, it may be a partner or spouse, whose relationship with a partner has had to evolve, with greater responsibility in the home and potentially on raising children. Equally, having the emotional weight of a sibling suffering can be overwhelming and all-consuming.

Despite this, a claim does not factor in the toll on those around them. It does not reflect the domino effect of an illness or disease on loved ones and how their lives are shaped by the event. Ultimately, they are the ones left to pick up the pieces someway or other.

Pursuing a claim presents an opportunity to create a financial safeguard for the individual’s future. A negligent act or omission may lead to a person no longer being able to work and losing their ability to financially contribute to a household. A successful claim therefore represents peace of mind for not only that person but also for their family.

However, the stress of potential litigation does not only affect the claimant. All too often, it is family who have to re-live the experience via providing witness statements, medical records, reading over documents, attending meetings and conferences. The responsibility of the claim alongside caring can then become another additional burden. This is where solicitors have to be acutely aware of the impact of a claim not only on their client but on the surrounding web of people. Having a bank of holistic resources to signpost individuals to such as counselling, guides for accessing benefits and the role of the NHS complaints procedure is fundamental to supporting the family and the client.  

As a team we understand the strain placed on loved ones and provide a highly supportive and sensitive service to assist the claimant and those close to them.

Further information

If you have any questions or want to speak to us about a potential clinical negligence case, please contact our Medical Negligence and Personal Injury team for a no obligation discussion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lucy Reast is a trainee solicitor at Kingsley Napley and is currently sitting in Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury as her first seat. Lucy’s current work involves assisting with complex medical cases particularly involving spinal and brain injuries.