An injury received while in the hands of a medicalprofession can be traumatic ? and can also leave a person facing seriousfinancial difficulties. People can be left out of work and unable to pay thebills or feed their children.

In these situations, it is right that they have a route toredress and a means of ensuring that they are not left to suffer because ofsomething that was not their fault.

The principle of access to justice applies across the board,whether the accident or injury occurs in the workplace, on the road or in ahospital.

Those who work in the medical profession, have a "dutyof care" to ensure their patients receive the correct treatment in aproper manner. In the majority of cases, medical professionals carry out theirwork to a high standard - however, sometimes mistakes do happen and patientscan suffer as a result.

If someone feels they have incurred an injury due to theactions (or lack of actions) by a doctor, nurse, surgeon or dentist, then theymay be liable to make medical negligence claims (clinical negligence claims).

can vary frommis-diagnosis, delay in diagnosis which resulted in an injury, surgical errors,neglect and injuries to a mother or child during childbirth ().

The compensation amounts that you can receive following asuccessful medical negligence (clinical negligence) claim depends on many factorsincluding the severity of the injury caused, salary (if your normal salary ishigh and you cannot work as a result of your injury, then you would expect morecompensation) and the number of financial dependents you have.

Due to the nature of the claim, medical negligence claimscan be lengthy and complex, proving that a medical practitioner was in factnegligent and that the injury was a direct result of that medical professional?snegligence. It is therefore crucial that claimants deal with specialist medicalnegligence solicitors who have experience in the field.

The National Accident Helpline deals with a network ofhighly experienced specialist across the country who can deal with your medicalnegligence claim in a professional and efficient manner. So, if you feel youhave been a victim of clinical negligence, you can speak to an expert to see ifyou can make a compensation claim.

Many people balk at the prospect of making a claim. Navigatingthe claims process can be daunting, but it is important to remember that thecompensation claims system is in place for a reason ? and the principal ofaccess to justice is important.

The first step to making a claim is speaking to a trainedperson who can advise as to whether your claim is worth pursuing. This can bedone easily. At , call centre staff can tell you whether they think youshould speak to a solicitor. They can then put you in touch with one in yourarea to progress your claim.