Medical treatment abroad is stressful even when it goes well. When it does not — a complication nobody warned you about, a procedure that made things worse, a discharge that came too early — you are left trying to work out what happened in a language you may not read, under a system whose rules you have never had reason to learn.
The first thing to know is that the Czech system gives the patient more than most foreign patients expect. The second is that time works against you.
Start with the records
You have a right of access to your own medical documentation, including the right to copies. This is the foundation of everything else, and it is the step most often left too late.
Ask in writing and keep the request. Records get thinner as memory fades and staff move on; contemporaneous documentation does not. Where the patient has died, close persons have their own access rights — a point that matters when the family is abroad and unsure whether they may ask at all.
Getting the file is also where a foreign patient hits the first practical wall: the documentation is in Czech, in clinical shorthand. A translation alone is rarely enough to tell whether the standard of care was met.
What actually has to be proved
A bad outcome is not, by itself, a claim. Medicine carries inherent risk, and a complication that was a recognised risk of a properly performed procedure is generally not compensable.
What matters is whether care fell below the professional standard — the standard of a practitioner of the relevant specialty acting with due professional care — and whether that failure caused the harm. Causation is usually the harder half. It is also why these cases turn on expert evidence rather than on how badly the patient was treated as a person.
There is a second route that is frequently overlooked. Treatment generally requires informed consent, and consent is only informed if the patient was told what the procedure involves, what the alternatives are, and what can go wrong. Where that conversation did not happen, or happened only as a signature on a form in a language the patient does not read, the position can differ from a pure standard-of-care case.
Compensation
Czech law compensates non-pecuniary harm to health, alongside pecuniary loss such as lost earnings and the cost of care. Amounts are assessed on the individual case, and courts are assisted by an established methodology rather than a fixed tariff.
Close persons may also have claims in their own right for harm caused by death or particularly serious injury to a relative.
What we do not do is quote an expected figure at the first meeting. Anyone who does that before seeing the records and an expert view is guessing.
Time limits
Limitation is the single most common reason a meritorious claim fails. Periods run from the point at which the injured party knew of the harm and of the person liable, which in medical cases is often later than the treatment itself — but not as late as patients assume. If something has been troubling you for a while, the sensible step is to have the limitation position checked now rather than after you have finished deciding.
Where a complaint goes before a claim
Not every case belongs in court. A complaint to the provider, and then to its supervising authority, is quicker and sometimes produces the explanation that was actually wanted. Where the treatment was reimbursed by an insurer, the insurer has its own review route.
These paths can also produce documentation that is useful later. We will tell you which of them is worth using in your case, and which will only cost you months.
How we work
- We obtain the complete medical documentation and have it reviewed by an appropriate specialist
- We assess both the standard-of-care question and the informed-consent question, which are often decided differently
- We check the limitation position at the outset and tell you plainly if it is a problem
- We pursue the complaint route where it is faster, and litigation where it is not
- We work with clients who are abroad and cannot attend in person
Frequently asked questions
Can I get my records if I have already left the country?
Yes. The request can be made in writing and handled through a representative; you do not need to attend.
The hospital says it was a known complication. Is that the end?
Not necessarily. The question is whether it was a recognised risk of a procedure performed to standard — and separately, whether you were told about it before consenting.
How long do these cases take?
Longer than clients hope, because they depend on expert evidence. We would rather say that at the start than discover it with you later.
Is it worth pursuing?
Sometimes it is not, and we will say so. Where the records do not support a claim, telling you that early is more useful than a year of correspondence.
Get in touch
Tell us what happened and when, and send any documentation you already hold. If you do not have the records yet, that is the first thing we will deal with.
More on our practice: Czech law for English-speaking clients