I've been hanging on to this post since February. Not knowing if I should post it or not. This month (it's now July) is 4 years since all this happened and so to mark the anniversary I've decided to put it out there. Why? Well because I still have no closure. The details below are non sensical as you will see.
So we are at the end of the three year clinical negligence period of torture. We have been down a mighty long road discovering how the legal system doesn't really work for anyone other than the rich. We have discovered how barristers aren't always confident in their performance and are about to discover how unorganised and bizarre the NHS can be... in a legal way rather than a medical way.
In July 2013 "protective proceedings" were issued allowing my solicitor an extra 3 months to attempt to squeeze something from this sorry case. As I'm constantly told, we cannot provide "clear and unambiguous" details of negligence so a game of poker and bluff calling was attempted.
And on 15 November 2013 it was all over as reported previously. HOWEVER on the 19 December I got another email from the solicitors office with the NHSLA making an offer of £5000 inclusive of costs. Take it or leave it. Because the case was backed by insurance for no win no fee, the insurers had to be informed of the offer. Because there was an actual monetary offer, the insurers count this as a "win" which means bills have to be paid from this sum...medical reports etc etc. We could have turned the offer down but then have had to pay the costs personally so we were pushed into a corner and give no real choice. We had to accept.
As I said to my solicitor, I'd never heard anything so daft in all my life! Surely this was a sign of guilt- why else make an offer!!!
Even the solicitors said this was crazy. To quote, "They knew perfectly well that limitation had expired and need not have done anything at all, much less make themselves out of pocket to the tune of £5000.00, no matter where it goes. I have no idea why they did it. It was completely unnecessary."
In 20 years of practising as a solicitor she had never come across anything like this...Typical- trust it to happen to me!
So, has medical negligence been proved? From the legal insurers point of view, any money obtained at any stage while the file is still open is a success.
I'd love to know the rationale behind the final offer. The only reason we haven't asked is to not bring attention to it just in case it was a mistake! Trouble is, I don't feel like there is any closure. How can I? I don't know why they put a cheque on the table and a paltry (considering the circumstances of the claim) one at that! And for the record, I saw hardly any of this 'offer'- once bills were paid, there was pretty much nothing left. Was justice proved?... you decide. I know what I think!
