MRSA Compensation

MRSA compensation was, in the past, very difficult to win and the number of successful MRSA compensation claims were relatively few. Recently though the tide has changed in favour of the sufferer as more and more information relating to MRSA is made available to the public.

The basis for winning a claim for MRSA compensation is to prove that the infection was contracted due to negligence or carelessness by hospital staff or, alternatively, that the infection was not treated in expedient manner once the hospital became aware of the infection.

The more successful MRSA compensation claims tend to be based on the fact that the infection, once contracted, was not treated quickly or efficiently by the hospital involved.

But, a change in tactics adopted by solicitors in fighting MRSA compensation claims on behalf of their clients has seen many new cases won. Because it has always been difficult to pinpoint the exact time that a patient contracted MRSA, claims have been very difficult to prove.

However, many solicitors are now making use of government health and safety legislation to prove that hospitals were negligent. This has meant many more successful MRSA compensation claims being made in UK courts.

Speaking recently a government advisor said: "I think this presents the best route for people to pursue the NHS. "They have traditionally been very hard to proceed with, but lawyers seem to have come up with a way of moving forward with them."

MRSA effects thousands of people every year but because of the previous difficulty in being able to specifically pinpoint when a patient contracted the infection hospitals were largely safe from MRSA compensation claims which were usually based on the traditional clinical negligence argument.

But the new approach of making claims based on industrial legislation is finally opening up channels of complaint which were previously closed to the thousands of people effected by the so called MRSA superbug.

Under the legislation known as Control of Substances Harmful to Health (COSHH) employers are required to control exposure to hazardous substances to prevent ill health. This, the solicitors now say, should apply directly to hospitals when assessing possible MRSA compensation claims.

While some will still contend that hospitals should not have to worry about having to face court cases there can be little doubt that the many thousands of patients who contracted MRSA whilst in the care of the NHS do deserve recompense and a means by which they can take their legitimate complaints forward.

Claims for MRSA compensation have rocketed in the last year. If you, or someone you know has been effected by the MRSA superbug, and would like some free legal advice on how to go about claiming compensation please follow the link to our main website - MRSA compensation claims.