Accident & Emergency Negligence Claims

The law does not expect perfection, and it takes account of the realities of a busy emergency department. The question in a claim is whether the care fell below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner acting in the same circumstances, the test the Irish courts apply following the principles in Dunne v National Maternity Hospital. A known complication, or an unavoidable bad outcome, is not negligence. But where a diagnosis was missed that should have been made, a serious condition was not investigated, or a patient was discharged when they should have been admitted, and harm followed, the standard may not have been met.

Experienced medical negligence solicitors

At McCarthy + Co Solicitors LLP, our team has more than 30 years of experience helping people across Ireland seek fair compensation following substandard medical care. Claims arising from emergency care commonly involve situations such as:

• a missed or delayed diagnosis, for example, of a fracture, a heart attack, sepsis, meningitis, or a bleed on the brain;
• a failure to carry out appropriate investigations, such as blood tests, scans, or X-rays;
• a failure to examine a patient properly, or to take an adequate medical history;
• inappropriate discharge, where a patient was sent home and later became seriously ill;
• incorrect treatment, or a delay in treatment, that worsened the patient’s condition;
• a failure to recognise, or to act on, a deterioration in the patient’s condition; and
• medication errors, or errors during an emergency procedure.

If you are unsure whether what happened meets the legal threshold, speaking with an experienced solicitor will help you understand your position.

How we build your case

Emergency care claims turn on detailed medical evidence. Our role is to investigate what happened, establish whether the care fell below an acceptable standard, and show a clear link between any failing and the harm you suffered. We obtain and review your full emergency department and hospital records, including triage notes, test results, and imaging, and we arrange independent expert opinion from suitably qualified specialists in emergency medicine and any other relevant field. Once that work is complete, we advise you on the strength of the case and the best way to progress it. Arrange a time to speak with a solicitor here by completing our quick and confidential online form.