If you have been harmed while under the care of medical professionals, you may have questions such as, ‘What is classed as medical negligence in the UK?’ and ‘When could I claim compensation?’. Sometimes, when receiving medical treatment, complications may arise. However, if these complications have arisen due to a healthcare professional not abiding by their duty of care, you may be able to make a medical negligence claim for any unnecessary harm you have suffered.
Within this guide, we will explain the duty of care you are owed by all medical professionals, what circumstances are classed as medical negligence, and when you could make a claim for compensation. Furthermore, we will share examples of evidence you could gather for your claim to prove medical negligence occurred.
Additionally, we talk through how compensation is calculated and how a specialist medical negligence solicitor on our team could help you with claiming compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you want to talk directly to our team about your case, you can do so for free:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Fill out our ‘claim online’ form.
- Chat in our live support box.
Jump To A Section
- What Is Classed As Medical Negligence In The UK?
- What Are The Different Types Of Medical Negligence?
- How Do You Prove A Claim For Medical Negligence?
- What Amount Of Medical Negligence Compensation Could Be Claimed?
- How Do You Claim For Clinical Negligence?
- Find Out More About Clinical Negligence Claims
What Is Classed As Medical Negligence In The UK?
So, what is classed as medical negligence in the UK? Medical negligence is when a patient suffers avoidable harm due to a medical professional failing to adhere to their duty of care.
As soon as you seek medical care and treatment, you are instantly owed a duty of care by the healthcare professional treating you. This also applies regardless of the medical setting they work in, whether that is a hospital, pharmacy or GP surgery. They must adhere to their duty of care by providing treatment and care that at least meets the minimum expectation. If the treatment they provide falls below this expected standard, this is considered a breach of their duty of care.
To be able to make a valid medical negligence claim, your case needs to meet all of the following criteria:
- A healthcare professional owed a duty of care to you.
- The healthcare professional treating you breached their duty of care. For example, they failed to properly assess and consider all of the symptoms you described to them.
- Due to this breach of duty, you suffered avoidable harm.
However, there may be instances where you suffer harm but the medical professional treating you did not breach their duty of care. In these instances, you might not be eligible to receive compensation.
To see whether you may have an eligible medical negligence claim, you can contact one of the friendly advisors on our team for a free case assessment.
What Are The Different Types Of Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence could occur in various ways. Some examples could include:
- Diagnostic errors, such as misdiagnosis. For instance, you have clear symptoms of an ankle fracture, but a doctor fails to refer you for an X-ray scan. They instead misdiagnose your fracture as a sprain. You could cause further damage to your ankle by putting pressure on it.
- Surgical errors. For instance, you are having vitrectomy surgery as part of your eye treatment. However, the ophthalmologist uses the incorrect equipment during the surgical procedure and damages your eye. This error could lead to loss of sight and severe facial scarring.
- Prescription or medication errors. For instance, your GP gives you a medication that contains penicillin, which you are allergic to. The GP was aware of your allergy as it was noted on your medical records. Because of this, you suffer an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis.
These are only a few examples. If you have suffered harm that you otherwise wouldn’t have if a medical professional adhered to their duty of care, please feel free to contact us at a time that suits you. We can answer any questions regarding what is classed as medical negligence in the UK and whether you might be eligible for compensation.
How Do You Prove A Claim For Medical Negligence?
Evidence is really important in medical negligence claims because you must prove how duty of care was breached and how this has led you to suffer avoidable harm.
Examples of evidence that could be gathered to support a medical negligence claim include:
- Copies of your medical records if you have sought medical attention for your avoidable harm. This can show how avoidable harm has affected you.
- Any letters confirming medical appointments with the medical professional that breached their duty of care.
- Witness contact details if anyone came with you and saw that substandard care was given.
- Photographs of any visible effects of your avoidable harm.
- Copies of any X-ray scans, test results or your prescriptions.
If one of our expert solicitors works with you on your potential medical negligence case, they can help you collect evidence as part of the services that they offer.
You can contact us to learn more about how our solicitors could help you prove medical negligence. They can also help answer any questions you may still have, such as ‘What is classed as medical negligence in the UK?’ and ‘When do I know if I have a valid claim?’.
What Amount Of Medical Negligence Compensation Could Be Claimed?
For successful medical negligence cases, the amount of compensation that could be awarded depends on the specific circumstances affecting each individual case. However, medical negligence payouts for successful claims could consist of general and special damages.
General damages are an award compensating the physical and psychological impacts of the medical negligence. This award takes into consideration:
- The severity of the harm experienced.
- Loss of amenity, otherwise known as loss of enjoyment.
- How long it should take to recover from the avoidable harm.
At some point during the medical negligence claims process, you might be invited to undergo an independent assessment, where a medical expert can evaluate your avoidable harm. The reports from this can be used along with the compensation guidelines from the Judicial College (JCG) when valuing your claim for general damages. The JCG is a publication with different guideline compensation figures for numerous types of physical and psychological harm.
Compensation Table
We have taken some types of harm and their compensation guidelines from the JCG to create the following table. Only the very first row is not in the JCG. Please only use this table for guidance purposes.
| Type of harm | Severity | Guideline award figures | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple types of serious harm with special damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | An award for suffering more than one type of serious harm with the money you have lost as a result, for example, loss of earnings and professional care costs. |
| Brain damage | Very severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 | Cases in this bracket include 'locked in' syndrome with a severely reduced life expectancy. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £267,340 to £344,150 | Cases in this bracket include a permanent vegetative state with a severely reduced life expectancy. | |
| Kidney | Permanent and serious damage or loss (a) | £206,730 to £256,780 | Of both kidneys. |
| Loss of one kidney (c) | £37,550 to £54,760 | Where the other kidney has no damage. | |
| Bowels | Double incontinence (a) | Up to £224,790 | Complete loss or bowel and urinary function with other medical complications. |
| Sight | Loss of sight in one eye and reduced vision in the other eye (c) (i) | £117,150 to £219,400 | Where the other eye has a serious risk of further deterioration. |
| Facial scarring | Very severe scarring (a) | £36,340 to £118,790 | Where the person is relatively young and has a severe psychological reaction and very disfiguring cosmetic effect. |
| Digestive System | Damage or illness from non-traumatic-injury (b) (i) | £46,900 to £64,070 | Hospital admission due to severe toxicosis causing a fever and vomiting among other issues. |
Other Ways You Could Be Compensated?
Special damages are an award compensating the financial impacts of the medical negligence. This award takes into consideration any:
- Medical expenses, such as prescription costs.
- Loss of earnings if you needed time off work to recover.
- Professional care costs.
Unlike general damages, which are always awarded in successful medical negligence claims, special damages are not. For this reason, you should keep evidence of any financial losses you wish to claim for in the form of receipts, payslips, invoices and bank statements, for example.
Our team can tell you more about how compensation for successful medical negligence claims are calculated. You can also contact them today to receive a free valuation for your potential case.
How Do You Claim For Clinical Negligence?
First, you should get in touch with us to confirm whether you have an eligible medical negligence compensation claim. If you do, you can be connected with one of our expert medical negligence solicitors. Our solicitors have years of experience working on various types of medical negligence claims and could help you with:
- Gathering evidence to support your case.
- Communicating with the other party.
- Ensuring your claim is filed on time.
- Negotiating your compensation.
Furthermore, our solicitors usually offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Some examples of how you would benefit from having your claim represented under a CFA:
- You will not pay any upfront charges for your solicitor’s services.
- You will not pay any ongoing charges for your solicitor’s services.
- If your claim fails, you will not be charged at all for your solicitor’s services.
- If you have a successful medical negligence claim, you will have a success fee deducted from your compensation. A success fee is a small percentage that is capped by law.
Contact Us
Contact us to see whether one of our experienced medical negligence solicitors can help you through the compensation claims process. Our friendly team of advisors can also offer you free advice and help if you are still unsure what is classed as medical negligence in the UK.
You can contact our team today via any of the following methods:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Fill out our ‘claim online’ form.
- Chat in our live support box.
Find Out More About Clinical Negligence Claims
Browse some of our other medical negligence claims guides:
- How to make a private hospital medical negligence claim.
- See whether you can make a medical negligence claim for delays in treatment.
- Find out when you could claim for GP negligence with this useful guide.
Additionally, these external resources may also be helpful:
- General Medical Council (GMC) – what good medical practice is expected in a doctor’s duty of care.
- Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – what is involved in a nurse’s duty of care.
- NHS – how to complain to the NHS if you are not satisfied with any NHS care you have received.
We hope that this guide on what is classed as medical negligence in the UK has helped you. If you have any further questions or would like to see whether you may have a valid claim, you can contact our advisors.
