At Tracey Solicitors LLP, our specialist medical negligence team understand the physical, emotional, and financial ramifications stemming from unnecessary hip dysplasia surgery. If your child has suffered injuries due to medical negligence, you can rest assured that we will robustly advocate for your legal entitlements, all the while offering a compassionate and understanding approach when you decide to pursue a claim.
If your child has been injured as a result of an error made by a medical professional in diagnosing developmental hip dysplasia, you may be entitled to pursue legal action and make an unnecessary hip surgery compensation claim.
In July 2024, Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOCH), announced that they would be conducting an independent audit on a random sample of developmental dysplasia of hip (DDH) surgeries that were conducted on babies and children between 2021 and 2023.
This was following a protected disclosure from a concerned staff member that differing criteria between NOCH, Crumlin Hospital and Temple Street Hospital (TSH) were being used to determine whether DDH surgery was required.
The findings of the independent audit revealed that 60% of cases at TSH and 79% of cases at NOHC did not meet the standard criteria for surgery. One of the 63 cases audited at Crumlin Hospital was found to be unnecessary.
In response to the findings of the audit, CHI, which administers Crumlin Hospital and TSH, has written to 1,757 families and the NOCH have written to 502 families of children who underwent DDH surgery since 2010. These letters explained that the children would be subject to follow up care and review. However, it is not yet clear how many of these children had unnecessary DDH surgery.
At the time of writing this article, the HSE have announced that they will commission an external review to assess whether surgery was necessary for the children who underwent DDH surgery in this time period. This will be offered on an opt-in basis. Those who do not opt-in will be offered a HSE-funded appointment with an alternative expert.
Every case will be different and there will be some children for whom surgery was the correct course of action. If you received confirmation that your child’s surgery was unnecessary, or if you are unsure if your child’s surgery was required, it may be worth speaking to a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence and orthopaedic surgery claims to discuss your concerns. A solicitor will be able to advise on the next steps based on your personal situation.
A solicitor will look at the facts of your case and guide you on your legal options to get the best outcome for you and your family. A medical negligence case can be long journey to undertake, so an experienced solicitor will guide you through the process to make it as smooth and easy as possible for you.
If you are entitled to compensation, your solicitor will ensure your full situation has been considered, including pain and suffering, psychological damage and all expenses incurred, including any future care needs.
Compensation claims stemming from wrongful surgery typically encompass three primary areas of loss:
Evey case will be different, and a specialist medical negligence solicitor can provide you with further guidance on this.
If liability has been admitted and you are aware that your child’s surgery was unnecessary, your solicitor will work with you to prepare your case, ensuring all the facts are considered when compensation is being awarded.
If you are waiting for your child’s case to be reviewed, contact us and we will discuss your situation with you to ascertain the best course of action.
No matter what stage of the review process you are at, a specialised medical negligence solicitor will manage the legal journey for you so that you can focus on your child’s wellbeing and recovery.
Your solicitor will ask you to set out, to the best of your knowledge, the circumstances of your child’s case. The solicitor will then request your medical records and then arrange a report on the records from an independent medical expert. This independent expert will review the records to determine if there was negligence involved, and the case will proceed from there.
If you or someone close to you has been impacted by the findings of the hip surgery audit, contact us and tell us about your case today. Our experienced and understanding team will discuss your situation with you in complete confidence.
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For more information and a confidential discussion on your medical negligence claim, call Elaine Hickey, Head Medical Negligence Solicitor, on +353 1 649 9900 and tell her about your medical malpractice case or reach out via email to ask@traceysolicitors.ie and she can call you back.
Once you have gathered all the relevant information in relation to your injury it is then time to move forward with your claim. It is important to use a specialist medical negligence solicitor to help you with this.
If you feel that you were not provided with appropriate medical treatment whilst under the care of a medical professional which resulted in injury due to the actions or in-actions of a medical professional, then speaking with a medical negligence solicitor following the injury is imperative. Medical negligence is a complex topic in Irish law. Speak to a medical negligence solicitor when bringing a claim forward. This ensures that no essential steps are missed throughout the legal process. Bringing a claim forward without having spoken to a solicitor can delay your claims procedure. A solicitor can help to determine your medical negligence time limit claim.
In order to make a claim, it must be established and proven that the injury sustained was caused by the medical negligence of the doctor or medical staff tasked with your medical care. Therefore, after having spoken with you about your case, your solicitor will then request access to your medical records. At this stage, the solicitor will have your medical records assessed by an independent medical expert. This will help determine whether a surgeon or medical staff who treated you had, in fact, administered substandard medical care and if negligence was the cause of the injury and if your injuries/outcome could have been avoided if the appropriate level of medical care had been adhered to.
If the independent medical expert has concluded that medical negligence has occurred, then your solicitor will draft a Letter of Claim to the medical practitioner who treated you. A Letter of Claim will outline the nature of your case and invites the medical practitioner to settle your case. The next steps involved are heavily dependent on your case and response to your Letter of Claim and will determine whether your case will be brought to court or settled outside of court. Your solicitor will be on hand every step of the way to guide you through this process.
At Tracey Solicitors LLP, our dedicated medical negligence solicitors have years of experience in helping people deal with traumatic medical injury claims. We understand the injuries, both physically and emotionally, that you have suffered and have supported and helped many people in similar situations proceed with medical negligence claims in Ireland over the past 30 years.
For more information and a confidential discussion on your medical injury claim, phone 01 649 9900 or email ask@traceysolicitors.ie to tell us about your case, where you can speak with a member of our team straight away.
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If you are to proceed with a medical negligence claim you may be entitled to claim compensation for the accident and added expenses, you may have incurred. These claims are called damages.
General damages are non-financial damages such as pain and suffering and/or physical and emotional injuries following a medical negligence injury.
Special damages are out of pocket expenses incurred as a result of the medical negligence injury, for example, loss of earnings (if you are out of work), medical bills, added travel costs as a result of the accident (for example, travel to and from the hospital) and future care costs. Learn more about Special Damages.
The statute of limitations are the legal time limits on how long you have to make a claim, which can vary depending on the situation. When taking into account how long medical negligence claims take, it is important to remember that medical negligence cases require certain time frames in place within which you can bring a claim. For medical negligence claims it is two years less a day following the date of the incident or two years less a day following the date that a person made the connection that their illness or injuries were a result of medical negligence. Contacting a solicitor to discuss your case will help you in determining how long you have left to make a claim.
In an unfortunate incident where a child is subject to medical negligence, the process of making a claim differs from that of an adult. A minor may be in a position to bring a claim forward in the first two years following their 18th birthday.
Learn more about Legal Time LimitsWe draw on more than 35 years of experience in personal injury law to provide you with expert advice and legal services.
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