Clinical claim reaps cosmetic rewards

When I first arrive at the small Manchester café, I wonder if perhaps I’ve made some mistake in following directions. There is no one there who looks to be suffering from even the slightest facial disfigurement resulting from an atrocious example of medical negligence.

I am even more shocked when a beautiful, fresh-faced woman in her late-twenties beckons my attention and asks if I am ‘the reporter’.

After sitting down and chatting with her, I soon understand why Diana no longer bears any perceptible traces of the horrific cosmetic injuries she suffered after going into a private hospital for a routine operation to remove a benign facial cyst.

She is unabashed in talking about her experience of the operation and her subsequent use of a personal injury solicitor to make a no win, no fee claim for medical negligence compensation.

Before our coffee has even cooled to a comfortable drinking temperature she has already pulled three photographs from her bag. They clearly illustrate the nature of her story.

The first shows an attractive young woman with a minor though noticeable cyst on her face, the second a tired and depressed looking woman with a shocking and distressingly festering wound. In the third photograph, the wound has healed to raw and large scar. It is about 5cm by 6cm and covers an expanse of skin below the left eye to the upper and lower parts of the cheek.

“That was when things hit rock-bottom,” she says pointing to the third photograph, “I couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel then. I’d been through the infection, the hope of healing, to the reality that was facing me: a life-long scar.”

I tell her that the later two photographs are a far cry from the attractive and unblemished woman I see sitting before me now. “Is that down to the medical negligence compensation?” I ask.

“Yes medical negligence compensation made it all possible. If I’d never been persuaded to contact personal injury solicitors with a view to making a medical negligence compensation claim, I never would have managed to afford corrective cosmetic surgery.”

She gestures to her face, “Medical negligence compensation made this possible. Before the operation, the cyst had been bugging me for a long time. Eventually, as I had some time off work, I bit the bullet and decided it was time to have the thing removed. My GP explained that it would be a simple procedure. It never even entered my mind that I might have to make an accident claim for medical negligence compensation.”

“What happened?” I enquire, “On what grounds was it decided you had a valid medical negligence claim?”

“I was very fortunate.” She replies. “As the medical profession have a reputation for closing ranks at the mere mention of an accident claim. There was no difficulty in proving damage. The proof was on my face for all to see. Causation was not much of a problem either. The difficulties came with showing there had been a breach of duty.

“As I said before, I was fortunate. Around the time I decided to make my medical negligence compensation claim there was a fair amount of furore relating to an endemic neglect of surgical hygiene in the hospital in which I was operated in. I’d been treated in a ward where negligent medical practices had become the norm rather than the exception.”

I find myself curious to know if the accident claim process put her under added stress.

“Not really, no. Once I decided to claim medical negligence compensation, my personal injury solicitor took control of pretty much everything. Once I’d had the independent medical assessments, I took a back seat. I was basically detached from the accident claim process until my personal injury solicitor contacted me with the good news. At that moment I felt satisfied – jubilant, no – but satisfied, yes. From then I knew I’d be able to get my face sorted out.”

“And since you’ve had the corrective surgery, your scars have completely healed?” I ask.

“Nearly, but not quite. To the naked and unscrupulous eye, yes. I do wear make-up, which helps cover up evidence of the scarring. The cosmetic surgeon also used methods which trick the eye into not seeing what is there. Don’t misunderstand me though – I am delighted with the outcome.”

After a while Diana and I get talking about other things. It is a relief to leave the subject of medical negligence compensation behind. She tells me how wonderful it is to have the confidence of her own face again and how she has found love with man from her new job. They are now engaged, all they have to do now is settle on a date for an autumn wedding.

As I leave the café, Diana waves to me from the window. Her youthful and attractive face makes me feel a flush of patriotic pride that we live in a UK where victims of clinical negligence can obtain financial redress in the form of medical negligence compensation.

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John Patterson, YouClaim are the leading online personal injury compensation claim people with an excellent claim success rate. Call 0800 10 757 95 or visit http://www.youclaim.co.uk/medical-negligence-deadly-cases.htm for more details.