Life After Medical Negligence: How to Rebuild Your Health and Confidence
If you’ve undergone a medical procedure and it hasn’t quite gone to plan, then it’s easy (and natural) to feel shaken up about it. You’ve entrusted your body into the care of professionals, and that trust has been tarnished.
What matters is that you have a means to repair the damage, where possible, and that you’re able to seek the justice you deserve. But how do you do these things? Let’s take a look at how to get back on track after having suffered medical negligence.
Addressing Emotional and Psychological Recovery
One aspect of medical negligence that’s often overlooked is the psychological impact that it can have. You might feel unable to put your trust in healthcare providers again. This sense of unease can persist even if you are able to rationally understand that all professionals are fallible human beings, and that your bad experience might not reflect the care that you’ll receive in the future.
Anxiety, stress, depression, and guilt are also common. If you feel these, the best approach is often to manage them, with the help of the right professional therapist, and peer support groups. The right guidance might also equip you with the knowledge you need to advocate for yourself in a medical setting, and thereby rebuild your shaken confidence in the system.
Managing Physical Health and Ongoing Care
The nature of your injuries will determine the shape of your recovery. In some cases, patients will require ongoing care.
When you suspect medical negligence, it’s important to seek out a second opinion, and to follow the formal process for complaints. In your dealings with new clinicians, you’ll also want to keep a record of the new symptoms you develop. All of this information may be helpful later, should you choose to take the matter to court.
Supportive charities like Action against Medical Accidents provide comprehensive guidance to those in this situation. It’s worth looking through it.
Legal Steps and Reclaiming Control
Ultimately, a legal claim is about more than just extracting compensation. It’s also about getting closure on a matter, and justice for yourself. A qualified solicitor who specialises in medical negligence can be crucial. If they act on a no-win, no-fee basis, as many do, then you’ll be able to pursue the case without fear of financial risk.
The right legal guidance will allow you to navigate what can be a stressful process with ease. In all but the most unusual cases, the claimant is not required to actually attend court in person – and most claims are settled out of court. In other words, it’s important not to be put off by the stress, or the cost.
