The NHS & COVID

Can you claim against the NHS for not receiving treatment during the pandemic?

In short, yes.

First and foremost, it must be said that we have great admiration for the NHS and medical professionals who did a brilliant job in these extraordinarily challenging conditions.

This is at best a thorny subject and an emotive one at that, in the post-pandemic era. Taking the emotion out of the subject and looking at it objectively and dispassionately, our job as legal professionals is to examine the issue and deal with the facts.

There are numerous illnesses and diseases; some worse than COVID which needed prompt medical treatment…and may not have received it. At the peak of the pandemic in 2020, the majority of the population were discouraged from calling their GP or attending their hospital because they felt either:

• they may risk contracting the virus or,
• they did not wish to burden the NHS or the staff.
• As a result, it is clear the pandemic has impacted many people either mentally, physically or emotionally.

Thinking back to a time when people were standing on their doorsteps applauding the NHS, banging pots and pans, sounding horns, ringing bells, or putting rainbow posters in their windows, it’s hardly surprising that people feel reluctant, awkward, or even morally conflicted about bringing a claim against the NHS.

People searching for terms related to medical negligence/clinical negligence dropped to approximately half their previous volume, and the number of people seeking help was reduced probably because of the high esteem in which the NHS is held and also because fewer people have had treatment (we are all ware of the NHS backlog).

You would have seen in the news, cases where people passed away or were not been able to get adequate treatment for their conditions due to the pandemic, and it should be noted that every individual case is different.

However, every person has the right, and should expect the same standard of care from medical professionals as it was before the pandemic began so you should never be discouraged from investigating any mistreatment or misdiagnosis you received from the NHS.

Everyone has a right to receive adequate medical treatment, and as medical negligence lawyers, it is our role to ensure we achieve the truth for our clients who have suffered loss, due to the negligence that occurred by a medical professional – despite the unprecedented situation we found ourselves in.

If you need to talk about an issue relating to the above – we’re here to listen and to help.