Cardiology and Heart Surgery Claims

A heart attack or any other health condition affecting your heart can be life-threatening, so if errors are made in the medical care you receive, it can have devastating consequences.

If you believe you or a loved one were treated negligently for a heart attack, during heart surgery or in relation to any other kind of heart-related illness, you may have grounds for a medical negligence claim. Understanding whether you might be entitled to compensation and navigating the claims process can be complicated, however, so specialist legal advice and guidance is essential.

Wolferstans’ medical negligence solicitors can offer highly experienced support for all types of cardiology and heart surgery claims, giving you the benefit of our decades of experience. Over the years we have secured millions of pounds in compensation for our clients, having built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading law firms for these types of claims.

We have the experience to offer a highly accurate valuation of your claim, helping to ensure you do not make the mistake of settling for less than you may have been entitled to. We also offer strong expertise in non-confrontational dispute resolution, meaning we can typically resolve claims out of court, saving you time, money and a lot of stress.

We offer a free initial no obligation consultation during which we will be able to tell you if you have a claim worth investigating further.

To arrange your consultation please contact the new client team on 01752 292204

Our cardiology and heart surgery negligence claims service

Our medical negligence lawyers help clients across England and Wales to pursue compensation for a wide range of claims related to cardiology negligence and heart surgery errors, including those involving:

Misdiagnosis and late diagnosis of a heart attack
Failure to carry out appropriate diagnostic tests, such as an ECG or angiogram
Negligent errors during heart surgery
Failure to diagnose cardiac arrhythmia
Failure to diagnose diseases affecting the heart such as endocarditis (infection of the heart)
Post-surgical infections after heart surgery
Negligent aftercare following heart surgery

Read about some of the cases we have successfully pursued in relation to heart surgery and cardiology compensation claims.

How cardiology and heart surgery claims work

Our clinical negligence lawyers aim to keep the process of making a claim for cardiology negligence or heart surgery errors simple and straightforward, keeping the stress and disruption to your life to a minimum.

A typical cardiology or heart surgery claim will involve:

Building your case e.g. applying for medical records, collecting witness evidence and consulting independent medical experts.
Contacting the relevant healthcare provider with the details of your claim.
Ensuring the defendant responds to your claim in a timely fashion.
Assessing the defendant’s response and advising you of your options.
Negotiating with the defendant and/or using alternative dispute resolution (ADR), such as mediation or independent evaluation, to secure a suitable settlement.
Submitting your claim to the relevant court and representing you at a court hearing where required to resolve the matter.

Find out more about the process of making a clinical negligence claim.

Funding a cardiology or heart surgery compensation claim

We want to make sure that anyone with strong grounds for a cardiology or heart surgery negligence claims is able to access the legal support they need. This is why, as long as we believe your claim has a reasonable chance of success, we will find a way for you to fund your claim that matches your circumstances.

For most of our medical negligence clients, that means we will work with you using a conditional fee agreement. More commonly called a ‘no win, no fee’ deal, this means you won’t have to pay anything towards legal fees or expenses to start a claim and will only need to contribute to these costs if we win compensation for you.

In the event of a successful claim, the fees you pay will be calculated based on a percentage of the compensation secured. This means you will have complete transparency at the outset over what your likely contribution will be and will get the maximum benefit from a successful claim.

An alternative for funding a medical negligence claim is legal expenses insurance. This is typically offered as an optional extra with home insurance, as well as some bank accounts and credit cards, so may be worth considering where available.

To discuss your options for covering the cost of a heart surgery or cardiology negligence claim, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Find out more about funding a medical negligence claim.

Our expertise in cardiology and heart surgery claims

We have built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading firms of medical negligence lawyers due to our exceptional client care and strong track history of successful claims, leading to millions of pounds in compensation for our clients. We have particular experience in a wide range of cardiology and heart surgery negligence claims, so have the specialist knowledge you need for a fair outcome.

Wolferstans is accredited by the Law Society for Clinical Negligence, recognising our particular expertise in this area. We are also Lexcel accredited by the Law Society for excellence in legal practice management and client care.

Various members of our medical negligence team are also on the Law Society and AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents) Specialist Clinical Negligence Panels and have been accredited by APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) as Clinical Negligence Specialists and Brain Injury Specialists.

Find out more about our medical negligence claims team,

Common questions about cardiology and heart surgery claims

There is normally a 3-year time limit to bring a claim for any type of medical negligence, counted from the time when the negligence occurred.

However, this can vary depending on the circumstances and knowing whether the relevant time limit has expired is very complicated. It is therefore always sensible to consult a specialist medical negligence lawyer for advice, no matter how much time has passed.

Instances where the standard 3-year time limit may not apply include:

If the negligence was only discovered later – The 3-year time limit may then apply from when the negligence came to light.
If the claim is for someone under 18 – Their parents or guardians will have until they turn 18 to bring a claim. If this is not done, once the claimant turns 18 they will have a further 3 years to bring a claim.
If the person affected lacks capacity to bring a claim – There is then no time limit for someone else to bring a claim for them.
If someone dies as a result of medical negligence – The standard 3-year time limit applies, but if the claimant dies within those 3 years, the representative of their estate will normally have a further 3 years from the date of death to bring a claim.

This will depend on how serious the impact has been on the claimant’s health and their lifestyle, as well as any costs incurred by the claimant due to their injuries.

You will normally be able to claim two types of compensation for medical negligence:

Special damages – Compensating you for specific financial losses incurred up to the date of settlement. This can include costs such as paying for treatment and special equipment, as well as loss of earnings resulting from having to give up work.

General damages – Compensating you for non-financial losses (such as pain and suffering, and changes to your lifestyle) plus financial losses you are likely to make in the future as a result of the injuries sustained (such as the loss of future income due to not being able to return to work).

Whether you can claim compensation will depend on whether it can be shown that the medical care your loved one received either before, during or after their heart attack was negligent.

You will normally need to demonstrate two things to make a claim in these circumstances:

That the care your loved one received fell below medically acceptable standards.
That this negligent care directly contributed to their death.

Proving both of these things will usually rely on various pieces of evidence including:

Medical records
Witness evidence
Evidence given by independent medical experts

Further information about heart surgery and cardiology negligence claims

For more information about cardiology and heart surgery compensation claims and all types of medical negligence claims, please take a look at our news, blogs and our series of helpful leaflets covering specific issues.

Start a cardiology or heart surgery claim with us today

To arrange a free initial no obligation consultation and find out more about starting a cardiology or heart surgery negligence claim: