Help! My Plastic Surgery has Gone Wrong, What Can I do?

Now, most people think of compensation claims as being frivolous – money for nothing. But that’s not true. Compensation is designed to help people who have been injured or have become ill, through no fault of their own, get back to the situation they were in before the injury or illness happened.

So, if you had a cosmetic surgery procedure carried out and you suffered because of it – for example, you couldn’t work – you should be entitled to claim back the salary you missed out on. 

But that’s not all compensation is designed for. It’s also designed to recompense you for the pain and suffering you have endured too. And, if you think that you may need specialist treatment, care or equipment in the future, compensation is for that as well. 

Second, don’t ever feel guilty about claiming, even if the person you are claiming from feels like a friend. This happens more often with dentists and GPs, as most people tend to stick to the same doctor or dentist for as long as they can, but it does not mean that it can’t happen here too, so it’s something worth mentioning.

Why should you not worry about claiming from your healthcare professional friend? Because everyone who works in healthcare has to have personal indemnity insurance! This protects them from being personally sued and is designed for circumstances such as these. It’s much like car insurance, in that when you have a crash in your car and it’s your fault, the other person makes a claim from you and it’s your car insurance company who’ll pay out any money awarded, not you personally.   

Third, there are two points that must be proven for any claim to be successful. You need to show:

• Negligence – this means you need to show that the standard of care you received was not what would be expected from a reasonably competent health care professional in that specific area of medicine should have provided.
• Causation – this means that you have to show that the physical or mental injury you suffered was due to the negligent treatment you received.

If you can demonstrate these two points, you should have a pretty good case for claiming compensation. Although, it is worth bearing in mind that without knowing all the facts of the case, it is very difficult to determine if a case is going to be successful or not.

So, if you want to explore the idea of making a claim for compensation, the first step is speaking to a solicitor. And, the best kind of solicitor for this kind of case, is a ‘no win, no fee’ solicitor. They are used to dealing with compensation claims and can tell you truthfully whether you have a case to pursue or not. If it’s the former, you will not need to pay anything until the case is settled, apart from in some exceptional circumstances. If it’s the latter, you’ll pay nothing, as the advice is free.

So, if you believe that you have suffered because of another’s negligence, you should definitely find out if you could claim for compensation. If you can, great! If you can’t, you’ve lost nothing but a little of your time.