Medical negligence happens when a medical professional gives a patient substandard care, and this causes harm or injury. Whilst the vast majority of the time, the care received from doctors, nurses, or other medical professionals is appropriate, occasionally mistakes happen, and negligence can occur. This guide about making a medical negligence claim will aim to answer any questions you may have about the claims process.
We will show you when a claim can be made, what evidence you need, and how compensation can be calculated for injuries and financial losses. We also explain how one of our experienced medical negligence solicitors can help you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Key Takeaways For Medical Negligence Claims
- If you have been harmed by substandard medical care, you could be owed compensation.
- The size of this compensation is influenced by the injuries you suffered and claimable financial losses.
- Claiming against the NHS will not affect your treatment.
- You have three years to start a claim, although some exceptions apply.
- Our experienced medical negligence solicitors can operate on a No Win No Fee basis.
Jump To A Section
- What Is Medical Negligence?
- How To Make A Medical Negligence Claim
- Can I Make A Medical Negligence Claim Against The NHS?
- Will Making A Medical Negligence Claim Affect My Treatment?
- Common Types Of Medical Negligence
- How Much Compensation Could I Get For A Medical Negligence Claim?
- Can I Complaint About Medical Negligence?
- Could I Make A Medical Negligence Claim On Behalf Of A Loved One?
- How Could A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitor Help Me?
- More Information On Making A Medical Negligence Claim
What Is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence is when a medical professional fails to treat you with the correct standard of care, resulting in further injuries and avoidable harm.
All medical professionals have a duty of care towards their patients. To make a medical negligence claim, you must meet the following criteria:
- You must be owed a duty of care by a medical professional
- This duty is breached by the medical professional failing to meet the correct standard of care
- This breach must result in your unnecessary and avoidable harm
All three elements are needed for a successful claim.
What Is A Patient Recall Letter?
If you have undergone medical treatment, you may receive a patient recall letter if you need to be re-examined. This could be potentially due to substandard medical treatment.
Not all patient recall letters are because of medical negligence but the medical professionals should explain why a re-examination is necessary. If medical negligence has occurred, you may be eligible to start a compensation claim.
If you would like to discuss a patient recall letter that you have received, you can reach out to our team.
How To Make A Medical Negligence Claim
To make a medical negligence claim you need to meet the criteria we stated in the first section of this guide.
To support your claim, it is good practice to gather evidence that helps prove the above criteria. If there is some evidence you cannot obtain, our solicitors may be able to support you with this. Here are some examples of what may be used as evidence:
- Medical records
- Copies of scans, test results, or X-rays
- Dated appointment letters or other correspondence
- Copies of prescriptions
If you have any questions about the evidence needed to support a claim, you can reach out to our advisors.
Can I Make A Medical Negligence Claim Against The NHS?
You can start a claim against the NHS if you suffered from medical negligence whilst in their care. To do so, you must meet the criteria discussed above.
Whilst the NHS aim to deliver patients with the correct standard of care, mistakes do happen, and if negligence has occurred, you are within your rights to claim compensation.
Can I Make A Claim Against A Private Healthcare Provider?
It may be the case that your treatment was not provided by the NHS but through a private organisation. You can still bring a claim in these circumstances, but the defendant will be the private body, and their insurer will pay the compensation if you are successful.
Whether looking to bring a claim against the NHS or a private treatment provider, you can take advantage of a free eligibility check by contacting our advisors.
Will Making A Medical Negligence Claim Affect My Treatment?
If you are making a medical negligence claim, this will not affect your treatment. Your treatment should continue, and you should still receive the correct standard of care.
However, you can change to a different medical professional if you do not feel comfortable given the situation.
Contact our team today if you have suffered from medical negligence or have any questions about the claims process.
Common Types Of Medical Negligence
Medical negligence can happen whenever substandard care causes harm or injury. Here are some common examples:
Misdiagnosis
Not every misdiagnosis will involve negligence. However, if the correct standard of care has not been met and this caused a misdiagnosis, then this could result in a claim. It could be the case that the correct tests are not performed, you are not examined properly, or your symptoms are dismissed.
A negligent misdiagnosis could cause harm due to receiving the incorrect treatment or perhaps due to a delay in receiving the correct treatment. Some examples of this include:
- Negligent cancer misdiagnosis
- Negliegent stroke misdiagnosis
- Negligent pneumonia misdiagnosis
Medication Errors
It could be the case that there was a medication error that caused you harm. If this involves a breach of duty, it could be grounds for a claim. There are many ways such errors can happen, but here are some examples:
- You are given the wrong medication in a dispensing error by a pharmacy
- The wrong dose of medication is prescribed for you by the doctor. This could be too high or too low a dose.
- A medication is prescribed without your GP checking your other prescriptions. The two medications are contra-indicated and present a danger when both are taken together.
Surgical Errors
Surgical errors can be another form of medical negligence. This occurs when patients are undergoing a surgical procedure that is not performed to the correct standard. Some examples could include:
- Errors with anaesthesia (an anaesthetic negligence claim).
- Retained foreign objects or bodies.
- Unnecessary surgery or procedures.
- Nerve damage is caused by a surgeon who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- Infections caused by a failure to correctly sterilise surgical equipment.
- Allergic reactions, e.g. to latex gloves when an accurate medical history was not taken.
Before surgical procedures, your surgeon should discuss the common side effects and the risks of the procedure. A failure to do so could mean that you have not given informed medical consent, which could also lead to a medical negligence claim.
Hospital Acquired Infections
A healthcare associated infection (HCAI) may cause further risks to patients. The HAI must arise from a breach of duty, e.g. by a doctor failing to sterilise themselves before examining a patient.
Well known HAIs include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile). Such infections could lead to serious health conditions such as pneumonia or sepsis.
How Much Compensation Could I Get For A Medical Negligence Claim?
A medical negligence claim can be made up of compensation from two heads of loss. The first is general damages, which are awarded in every successful case. The second is special damages, which are not always present.
General damages compensate you for the harm you have suffered and this can include psychological as well as physical injury. Factors like the severity of the harm, the prognosis for the future and the impact on your life affect the size of general damages.
The team that calculates your general damages may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document provides guidelines about suggested compensation for various injuries.
Here are examples from the JCG of what you may be compensated for injuries in a medical negligence claim, but please note that they are just guidelines and that the top figure is not from the JCG.
| Injuries | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries and Significant Financial Losses | Serious | Up to £1 million plus |
| Brain Injury | Very Severe | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Bowel Injuries | Double Incontinence | Up to £224,790 |
| Lung Disease (b) | Lung Cancer | £85,460 to £118,790 |
| Kidney Injuries (b) | Serious and Permanent Damage or Loss of Both Kidneys | £206,730 to £256,780 |
| Severe Leg Injuries | Very Serious | £66,920 to £109,290 |
| Injuries To The Digestive System (i) | Severe | £46,900 to £64,070 |
| Bladder Injuries (d) | Long Term Interferance With Function | £28,570 to £38,210 |
| Spleen Injuries (a) | Loss of Spleen | £25,380 to £32,090 |
| Neck Injuries | Moderate (iii) | £9,630 to £16,770 |
Can Medical Negligence Compensation Cover Loss Of Earnings?
In a medical negligence claim, you may be compensated for lost earnings under the special damages section of your compensation.
Special damages compensate you for any financial losses you have incurred as a result of your injuries or harm. If the losses would have been present anyway, even if negligence had not happened, then they would not be claimable.
Here are some examples of what you may be compensated for under special damages:
- Loss of income/wages
- Work benefits, e.g. holiday entitlement, bonuses, etc.
- Medical expenses
- Travel expenses
- Special equipment, e.g. prosthetics, walking frame, etc.
- Home adjustments, e.g. ramps, stairlifts etc.
To be compensated for financial losses in a medical negligence claim, you must show evidence of them. Here is a list of ways you can provide evidence of your losses:
- Pay slips
- Bank statements
- Medical/travel bills
- Receipts
Speak to our team today if you have any questions about medical negligence.
Can I Make A Complaint About Medical Negligence?
NHS England states that everyone who provides an NHS service must have their own complaints procedure. You can complain directly to the service provider or to the commissioner of the service in question, but you cannot do both. To find out who is the commissioner for the service about which you wish to complain, you can contact your local integrated care board (ICB).
Making a complaint could generate useful documents that could help prove your case, such as correspondence or a report on the care you received.
A private provider should have their own complaints procedure and you could contact the provider to obtain a copy of this.
Could I Make A Medical Negligence Claim On Behalf Of A Loved One?
There are a limited number of circumstances under which you can claim on a loved one’s behalf. They are that the person who suffered the negligence was a minor (under the age of 18) or that they lack the mental capacity to bring their own claim. Mental capacity is defined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Minors and those lacking capacity cannot start their claim, and this is when you can potentially act on their behalf as a litigation friend. A litigation friend makes decisions on behalf of the claimant and conducts their case. It is usually a family member such as a parent, guardian or sibling, but this is not a requirement. The litigation friend needs to be competent to conduct the case, and there can be no conflicts of interest. The court will have to approve the appointment as part of the case.
How Long Will It Take To Settle My Medical Negligence Claim?
There is no specific time frame for how long your medical negligence claim will take to settle because each case is different. Factors that can affect how long a case takes include:
- Whether the other side accepts fault or chooses to argue your case.
- How settlement negotiations progress. If you choose to reject an offer, court proceedings could become necessary.
- The complexity of the legal issues in the case.
- The severity of the injuries suffered and how much medical evidence might be needed to give a prognosis.
- The court timetable if proceedings are started.
In general, if you want to start a claim, you have three years from the date of the negligence to begin a case. This can run from the date you knew (or reasonably ought to have known) negligence has happened, as, for example, it might be several months before you realise you suffered a negligent misdiagnosis. The Limitation Act 1980 governs time periods for medical negligence cases.
There are exceptions to this rule for minors and those lacking capacity. Minors cannot start a claim until they are 18, and they have until 21 to start matters unless a litigation friend has already begun a claim as above. The time limit for those who lack capacity is paused. This pause is lifted if they regain capacity and they would have three years from this time to start their claim.
To find out if you can represent a loved one, speak to one of our advisors today.
How Could A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitor Help Me?
If you want to claim compensation for medical negligence, our experienced solicitors can help you. They are specialists in medical negligence claims and can use their expertise to walk you through the claims process.
Further, our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee Basis. This means that you may be able to start your claim through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Claiming through a CFA can benefit you because you pay no upfront or ongoing solicitors fees. You also do not need to pay your solicitor for their work if the case is unsuccessful. Further, for successful claims, a legally capped small percentage of your compensation is paid to your solicitor’s fees as a success fee. This success fee is agreed upon with you before your claim begins.
Get In Touch Today
To start a medical negligence claim, contact our team today:
- Visit our contact page
- Make a call to our advisors: 0333 000 0729
- Speak to our advisors on our live chat
More Information On Making A Medical Negligence Claim
Find out more about medical negligence claims by visiting the links below:
- How to claim for a missed lumbar fracture
- Find out how to sue a hospital for negligence
- How to claim if an optometrist did not refer you to hospital
References:
- Here, you can find your nearest treatment centre, issued by the NHS.
- Find out about a nurses duty of care, issued by the RCN
- Information and advice for claimants, issued by the NHS.
We thank you for taking the time to read this guide about how to make a medical negligence claim.
