If something went wrong in your care, here's how to find out where you stand

1. A bad outcome is not the same as negligence

Medicine carries risk. An operation can be done well and still lead to complications; a condition can be treated correctly and still progress. Irish law does not treat every bad outcome as someone's fault, and a solicitor who suggested otherwise would not be helping you.

What the law asks is whether the care fell below the standard expected of a reasonably careful practitioner with the same training, acting in the same circumstances, and whether that failure caused you harm you would not otherwise have suffered. Both parts have to be shown.

2. Signs it may be worth looking into

• You were told something was nothing to worry about, and it later turned out to be serious.
• Symptoms were reported repeatedly but tests were not done, or results were not followed up.
• An injury happened during surgery that you were not warned was a risk.
• Your condition, or your baby's, deteriorated while warning signs were present.
• Someone you love died and you have not been given a clear explanation of why.

None of these on its own means negligence occurred. They are reasons to ask the question properly.

3. What a solicitor actually does

At the start, the job is to listen and to understand the timeline. If it seems worth going further, the next step is usually to obtain your medical records and ask an independent medical expert in the relevant field to review them. In Ireland, a claim generally cannot proceed without that kind of supporting expert opinion.

You will be told honestly what the expert says, including if the answer is that the care was reasonable. Read more about how a claim works and what it costs.

4. Time limits

The general time limit is two years, running from the date of the treatment or from the "date of knowledge", when you first knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that you had been harmed and that the harm was connected to the treatment. Children and people who lack capacity are treated differently. Time limits explained.

5. Your information

The questions below ask about your health. That is sensitive information and is handled as such: it is only read by the solicitor, it is not shared with advertisers, and it is only processed with your explicit consent. Privacy policy.