If you think that your NHS dentist has been negligent in your care and you have been injured or the treatment has had a negative impact on your life, you might be eligible to make a claim for dental negligence compensation.
As well as making NHS dental complaints to the practice or individual involved if you are unhappy with the treatment you experienced, you can also look into whether you qualify for compensation.
Should I make a claim against an NHS dentist?
Understandably, many people are hesitant when it comes to making a claim against the NHS. However, if your dentist has been negligent and you want to seek compensation, it should be made clear that you won’t be suing the NHS as an organisation, but simply bringing a claim against the individual dentist involved. Practising dentists all have to hold their own insurance policies by law, to cover them in cases like this.
If you have suffered because your NHS dentist made a mistake with your treatment or during a dental procedure, failed to diagnose an oral health issue despite regular visits, or did not tell you about specific treatment risks before proceeding with a treatment plan, or misdiagnosed you, then they may have been negligent in your care.
Compensation awarded if your claim is successful can help to pay for future treatment to fix any resulting dental issues, recover any financial losses you have experienced as a result of the negligence and it can also help you feel a sense of justice for what has happened.
How to start a claim for dental negligence with an NHS dentist
Every dental negligence claim has its own specific circumstances so may not always exactly follow the same process, but a claim can be started by getting expert legal advice to make sure that there is enough evidence for action to be taken.
At the Dental Law Partnership, our team have decades of combined experience in dealing with NHS dental negligence claims so are ideally placed to offer free initial advice. Get in touch today by calling 0808 252 5331.
Making a dental negligence claim against an NHS dentist
If it has been determined after expert legal advice that you are eligible to make a dental negligence NHS dentist claim, the next step is to gather the evidence required to prove that your dentist didn’t provide an acceptable standard of care.
It is often possible to bring your NHS dentist negligence claim on a no win, no fee basis, meaning that if your claim isn’t successful, you won’t pay any legal fees at all.
The evidence needed to support your claim can vary, but will usually include your relevant dental records, a dental examination carried out by an expert, and copies of any communications between you and your dentist or practice if you made a complaint about your treatment.
You will also need records of any financial loss you have suffered as a result of the negligence. This might be loss of earnings if you’ve been unable to work due to it, or details of further treatment you have paid for to try and fix the issue, along with any other out of pocket expenses cause by the dental negligence.
The claim will be put to your NHS dentist by your solicitor, and the dentist is given the opportunity to respond to it. They may admit that they were negligent, or they might wish to settle the claim without admitting liability. If this is the case, the Dental Law Partnership can negotiate a settlement on your behalf. The amount of compensation that you will receive will depend on the individual circumstances involved and the impact that the dental negligence has had on your life.
If the dentist wishes to defend the claim, it may go to court and the judge will decide on a compensation amount if your claim is successful.
You can find out more about the process of making a dental negligence claim here.
If you’d like to talk to someone about NHS dental negligence claims or want to discuss your options, call the Dental Law Partnership team on 0808 271 7699, request a callback, or make an online enquiry to find out how we can help you.