You may be eligible to make a medical negligence claim if you have suffered physical or psychological harm due to negligent treatment by a health professional. Medical negligence occurs when a doctor, hospital, or other health professional fails to provide the standard of care that a reasonably competent practitioner in their field would have provided, and that failure caused you harm.

Not every bad medical outcome is negligence — sometimes treatment fails despite being performed correctly. But if a preventable error caused you harm, you may have a valid claim. We provide free initial consultations to assess your situation.

You can claim the following for medical negligence:

• Failure to perform surgery or provide post-operative care with reasonable care and skill
• Delay in diagnosing or providing the appropriate treatment or referral
• Failure to provide the proper treatment or referral
• Incorrectly prescribing or administering medication
• Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose a condition
• Making an existing condition worse
• Incorrectly reporting test results
• Anaesthesia errors
• Defective products
• Surgical errors

The following types of medical professionals are recognised:

• Allied healthcare professionals. This includes but is not limited to chiropractors and physiotherapists
• Dentists
• Doctors
• General Practitioners (GPs)
• Midwives
• Nurses
• Orthopaedic surgeons
• Pharmacists
• Public and private hospitals
• Radiologists
• Surgeons

For your medical negligence claim to be successful, you must be able to prove that:

1. There must have been a breach of duty – this means that the treatment you have received was negligent (breach);
2. The negligent treatment must have caused you damage that would not have occurred otherwise (causation); and
3. You must have suffered an injury because of that negligence (injury).

When speaking with someone about their potential claim, we will ask them questions.

The medical negligence case thresholds are strict and must be determined correctly before your claim can proceed. Medical negligence is a complex area of law, and we will explain what this means to you once we understand the facts of your situation.

At Barbante Personal Injury Lawyers, we know this can be stressful. We will explain your claim in plain English and provide the support you need.

There are often three types of independent expert evidence we will need to obtain:

1. The first is an independent assessment that the medical treatment you received was substandard and may constitute negligence.
2. The second is a specialist medical opinion stating that the substandard treatment has caused your injuries.
3. The third is a medical expert who can certify the extent of your ongoing injuries using the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. For a pain and suffering medical negligence claim, your injuries must be certified as exceeding 5% of the whole person for a physical injury and 9% of the whole person for a psychiatric injury.

The above opinions are needed to determine if a claim is likely to be successful.

You should also preserve all medical records, test results, imaging, and discharge summaries. You have the right to access your complete medical records under the Health Records Act 2001. We will arrange all necessary expert reports on your behalf.

All medical practitioners in Australia are required by the law to have Professional Indemnity Insurance. Therefore, in the event of an accident or injury, the Insurance company will pay compensation and not the actual person who was negligent in their conduct.

You could be eligible to claim the following:

• Costs associated with a trustee managing your money
• Home and vehicle modification expenses
• Loss of life expectation
• Paid care and help such as nurses
• Pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life
• Past and future loss of earnings
• Past and future medical expenses, such as surgery and equipment

The compensation you receive for your injury is based on the harm and/or loss suffered rather than the degree of negligence.

As a result, the compensation’s monetary value is placed on the gap between your standard of life before the incident and your standard of life since the incident.

Medical negligence claims are complex and take longer than most other personal injury claims. As a general guide:

The timeline depends on the complexity of the medical issues, how quickly expert reports can be obtained, and whether the insurer is willing to negotiate. We will give you a realistic assessment of the likely timeline for your specific case at your initial consultation.

Yes. If a family member has been seriously harmed or has died as a result of medical negligence, you may be able to make a claim on their behalf or in your own right.

If the injured person lacks legal capacity — due to the injury itself, mental incapacity, or age — a litigation guardian can bring the claim on their behalf. If a family member has died due to medical negligence, the estate and dependants may have separate compensation claims.

These are complex and emotionally difficult matters, approached with compassion and care. Contact us for a confidential, obligation-free discussion.

In Victoria, a three-year limit is present for medical negligence cases. The three-year limit starts from the date of the negligent act and, in some cases, from the date the negligence was discovered or should have discovered all the following facts:

1. That an injury has occurred;
2. That the injury was caused by the fault of another;
3. That the injury is sufficiently serious to justify bringing a claim.

Therefore, a claim can be outside the time limits if the injury or harm was not immediately apparent.