How Much Compensation Will I Get For A Hip Replacement?
For many clients, it is important for them to know how much a hip injury is worth when they come to make claims.
The severity of your injury, damage suffered as well as financial losses incurred including estimated future loss are some of the factors that will determine what you will get as compensation for your hip replacement negligence claim. This means that two different persons will no doubt get different compensation amounts because the specifics of each case differs from another.
Also, estimated time for full recovery (or future prognosis), costs of further medical treatment, house adjustment costs, rehabilitation and therapy costs will also have no small impact on your settlement payout.
With our medical negligence claim calculator, we can give you a realistic idea of how much money you can get for medical negligence.
What Are Hip Replacement Surgery Compensation Claims?
Hip replacement surgery compensation claims describes a situation where an individual sues or takes legal action against his or her surgeon for negligent or substandard treatment suffered during your hip replacement surgery which has left you suffering unnecessary pain and suffering.
Therefore, if you have suffered avoidable pain, trauma, impaired mobility or some other medical complication as a result of a failed hip replacement surgery, then you may be entitled to a hip replacement compensation.
What Is A Hip Replacement?
A hip replacement according to the NHS is a type of surgery which replaces a damaged hip joint with an artificial or prosthetic joint (implant). This surgery is common with adults between the ages of 60 and 80 but can also be recommended for adults of any age if the need arises.
Where an individual has impaired mobility or pain in the hip region even as rest, a hip replacement surgery may be recommended.
A damaged hip can be a huge disabling condition for the sufferer and therefore hip replacement can come in very valuable to improve movement, reduce pain and boost overall health and wellbeing of the individual.
Causes Of Damaged Hip
The following conditions can cause a hip to be damaged necessitating a hip replacement. These conditions include:
- Hip Fracture
- Septic Arthritis
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Abnormal bone growth such as bone dysplasia
How Much Can I Claim?
Most medical negligence compensation calculators found online cannot give you exactly what you can expect as your compensation value because there are sensitive areas of your case which your solicitor needs to know before an accurate estimate of your compensation value can be made.
The commonest cause of hip replacement is osteoarthritis. Generally, hip replacement surgeries are successful with an implant that lasts for at least 15 years. However, where the surgery goes wrong especially as a result of medical negligence, the consequences can be very devastating for the individual and family.
This is why we are here for you to assist you in your difficult Rheumatoid Arthritismoment. Our NHS Negligence solicitors are dedicated, friendly, empathetic and highly experienced in this area of civil law. We will stop at nothing to see that you get the justice you deserve for harm done to you.
Medical Negligence And Hip Replacement Surgery
There are a number of actions which can be termed as surgeon negligence which can lead to a failed hip surgery and consequently cause you to suffer unnecessarily. Some medical or surgical negligence in hip replacement which can cause you to make negligence claims include:
- Using a defective or inferior prosthetic for the hip replacement
- Unnecessary damage to nerves and other surrounding structures during surgery
- Inserting the hip replacement incorrectly
- Performing the operation on the wrong hip
- Errors during administration of anaesthesia
- Failure of your surgeon to warn you of risks associated with the hip replacement procedure and get your informed consent before proceeding.
- Failure of your surgeon to warn you of factors that puts you more at risks such as age, obesity, smoking, drug use, previous hip surgery, medical conditions like diabetes, and advise you on healthier lifestyle
- The surgeon failed to carry out vital checks before commencing the procedure. This includes looking out for patients on steroids, heart conditions or other medical conditions.
- Failure to monitor the patient’s recovery, and treat any postoperative infections
Effects Of Negligence In Hip Replacement Surgery
The consequences of negligence in a hip replacement surgery can be debilitating and devastating. You may suffer a few discomforts which may be side effects which will wear off after a while. However, conditions such as persistent back pains, swollen leg after hip replacement surgery, pelvic obliquity pain or leg length discrepancy may be as a result of negligence rather than side effects.
Some effects of negligent hip replacement surgery include:
- Failed hip implant requiring another surgery to correct the damage.
- Nerve damage which may be caused by leaking bone cement leading to foot drop
- Leg length discrepancy
- Fractures or dislocation of the femur while attaching the stem to the implant.
- Thrombosis
- Osteolysis (bone erosion)
- Iliopsoas tendonitis caused by failure to insert the prostheses firmly inside the socket
- Metal toxicity arising from type of implants used
- Post-operative Infections
Why Should I Make A Compensation Claim For My Negligent Hip Replacement?
More than just obtaining monetary compensation, making a compensation claim can ensure that the hospital or NHS trust which you are making claims against takes appropriate action to improve their standard of healthcare delivery and prevent a recurrence of the negligent treatment. It is your legal right to make claims if you have received substandard care and have been made to suffer as a result.
Also, your claims put you on the path to obtain a deserved compensation for your pain, suffering or trauma. Your compensation also takes into account your financial expenses, loss of income (especially if you have had to give up your job), costs of further treatment as well as costs of purchasing assistive devices.
Proving Your Hip Replacement Compensation Claims
It is not just about making claims. it is more about proving beyond reasonable doubt that not only did negligence occur, you have had to suffer as a result.
What we are saying here is that, if the doctor or surgeon was negligent but you suffered no harm, you may not really have grounds for a claim.
This is because to prove a medical negligence claim, you need to establish:
- Liability
- Causation
By demonstrating liability, we show that the medical professional had a duty of care towards you but failed to perform this duty as expected by a medical professional. Liability shows that the surgeon’s action fell below global acceptable medical standards.
Causation on the other hand shows that the surgeon’s actions were directly responsible for the harm, complications, psychological trauma you have suffered. In proving any medical negligence, a direct link between the negligent action and harm suffered has to be firmly demonstrated.
Proving one of these two without the other does not make the claims successful.
Certain documents which will be required to prove your claims include the following;
- Detailed statements of what transpired
- Medical records, scans and test results
- Witness statements
- Documents showing Impact of the injury on your finances (proof of financial losses)
If there are any other documents we will require, we will make them known to you during our free consultation sessions. Apart from the above mentioned, we will also make available for you a different surgeon or expert in this field who will carry out medical examinations on you and give us a report of the impact of the injury which will also guide us while making your claims.
While making your claims, we can also secure interim payments for you before the final settlement fee is agreed. This is to help ease your financial burden and assist you to access further medical treatment which is vital towards your recovery.
Even if you are not sure if the treatment you received was negligent or not, we still encourage you to come discuss with us during our free consultation sessions. We will also do a free claim assessment for you.
What Can I Claim For?
While making claims, you can make claims for two broad types of damages which are:
- General Damages- areas which are covered under general damages include the following.
- Physical pain/suffering
- Disfigurement
- Impairment
- Effect on quality of life and life expectancy
- Psychological trauma (e.g. depression, loss of confidence, etc.)
- Special Damages- on the other hand covers compensation for the following areas
- Loss of job, income or inheritance
- House repair, replacement or adjustment costs
- Past and future medical expenses
- Short and long-term medical costs including therapies and rehabilitative care
- Future prognosis
- Costs of hiring caregivers
TABLE SHOWING HIP INJURY COMPENSATION AMOUNTS
| Degree of Hip Injury | Settlement Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minor Hip Injury | Up to £3,710 | Individual is completely healed of soft tissue injuries |
| Minor Hip Injury | £3,710 - £11,820 | The sufferer has a minor or temporary disability. |
| Moderate Hip Injury | £11,820 - £24,950 | The sufferer has more severe than what is deemed minor injury |
| Moderate Hip Injury | £24,950 - £36,770 | Here the individual has severe hip injury but is not a major disability |
| Serious Hip Injury | £36,770 - £49,270 | The individual suffers serious hip injuries which could lead to any of the following problems: instability of the leg, mobility problems, or leg length |
| discrepancy, which may require future surgery. | ||
| Average compensation for broken hip | £58,100 - £73,580 | Injury is severe and includes fractures such as broken hip, broken pelvis. |
| Average compensation for broken pelvis | £73,580 - £122,860 | Injury is extremely severe and involves multiple fractures, significant disabilities, hip deformities and sexual dysfunction. |
No Win No Fee Hip Replacement Surgery Compensation Claims
Our hip replacement surgery claims are handled under our no win no fee policy. This policy also known as Conditional Fee Agreement protects you from making payments to us before we can represent you.
We take out an insurance cover on your behalf known as “After The Event” insurance cover which also protects you from paying us a dime even if your claims are not successful.
Therefore, you do not have to pay any legal fees to us before, during or after the claims process.
However, in the most likely event that you win your claims, we will take out 25% of your compensation award as what we term “success fee” while you receive the rest.
Medical Negligence Claims Time Limit
According to the Limitation Act of 1980, a three-year time frame is made available for you to make your claims. This time limit begins to count from when the negligent treatment occurred or when you became aware of it.
The exceptions to this rule includes claims involving children and claims involving persons who are incapacitated physically or mentally as a result of the effects of the negligent treatment.
Our NHS Negligence solicitors will be glad to explain this rule better to you as well as help you understand how you can make claims for a loved one if he or she is indisposed to make claims.