By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 23rd September 2025. If you’ve suffered avoidable harm during a surgical procedure, you may be entitled to claim for surgeon negligence if it occurred due to a breach in the duty of care owed to you. In this guide, we offer advice on the requirements and steps to making a surgical negligence claim.
This guide explains the different ways a healthcare professional could provide substandard medical care, causing harm to a patient during a surgical procedure. We’ll also look at potential compensation payouts for avoidable harm caused by surgery negligence and the benefits of claiming with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
To learn more about making a medical negligence claim for harm caused during surgery, you can contact our friendly team of advisors. They’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help answer your questions and offer free advice. To contact our team, you can:
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How Is Surgeon Negligence Defined?
If you become the victim of surgeon negligence, you could suffer potentially life-changing injuries. If you can prove that medical negligence affected your health, you could be able to claim for the harm or losses you suffered.
Surgical negligence is when a surgeon breaches the duty of care that they owe you as a patient, and deliver care of an unacceptable standard. You can only claim compensation for medical negligence that has caused you harm.
You may be wondering whether surgeons are liable for harm that they cause as a result of negligence and whether you claim against the surgeon, against the hospital or against another body altogether. While all surgeons do owe their patients a duty of care, you may not launch a claim against them directly.
Instead, you could claim against the relevant healthcare provider. This could be the relevant NHS Trust. If you were harmed by the negligence of a surgeon in a private hospital, then you could pursue a claim against the surgeon directly.
For more information on claiming compensation for negligence during surgery, speak with one of our advisors today.
What Are The 3 Points Of Criteria For Clinical Negligence?
Surgical negligence is when a surgeon provides a level of care that is below an acceptable standard. In order for you to claim compensation for surgical negligence, you would need to show that it caused your injury, illness or a worsening of your condition that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
The three criteria below would need to apply for a claim to be valid:
- A surgeon who was treating you, had a duty of care towards you not to do you any unnecessary harm.
- There was a breach of duty of care,
- This resulted in you coming to harm.
It’s important to note that you cannot claim for all harm that comes about as a result of medical care. Particularly in cases of surgery, it might be necessary for a surgeon to cause you harm that cannot be avoided when providing the correct level of care.
For example, you may attend a hospital with a badly crushed leg that requires amputation. The amputation, while causing you harm, is necessary in the course of the treatment. Therefore, you would not be able to claim compensation.
For more information on whether you could have a valid surgeon negligence claim, speak with an advisor today.
Are There Time Limits For Claiming?
There are time limits that apply to surgical negligence claims. These time limits apply whether your claim is being made against a private or public healthcare provider.
The Limitation Act 1980 sets the general time limit for beginning a medical negligence claim at three years from the date of the incident, or the date of knowledge.
In some cases of surgical negligence, you might be aware that negligence during surgery has occurred immediately after the incident. For example, if you’ve had surgery performed on the wrong site, this is something you might notice that is the case right away. In such a scenario, the time limit for claiming would usually start run from the date you became aware of the issue.
In some instances, however, you might not be aware of the negligence until a later date. For example, you may think that your surgery has gone accordingly but at a later date start to develop symptoms. You could then undergo tests that show a foreign object has been left in your body. The limitation period would start from this date of knowledge and not the date that the negligent surgery occurred.
However, there are some exceptions that can apply to this time limit. Speak with a member of our team to find out more.
What Are Examples Of Clinical Negligence?
Below, we have included some examples of the types of medical negligence that can arise in surgery:
- Wrong site or wrong-patient surgery. This is where an operation is performed on the wrong patient, or on the right patient but on the wrong part of the body. For example, an operation could be performed on the patient’s right leg instead of their left.
- Wrong implant used. This is where the wrong implant or prosthesis is inserted into the body.
- Foreign object left in body post-procedure. For example, the surgeon could mistakenly leave a tool used during surgery in the patient’s body, that they then need to undergo further surgery to have removed.
- Infection caused by poor hygiene. Part of a surgeon’s duty of care is ensuring that they are adhering to hygiene standards. If they fail to do this, you could contract an infection as a result.
- Injury to organs or damage to nerves. Sometimes, a doctor might cause nerve or organ damage during surgery. If this happens because they provided a substandard level of care, then you may be eligible to claim.
Wrong site or wrong patient surgery, wrong prosthesis or implant and foreign objects being left in the body are all examples of Never Events. Never Events are events that should not happen if all the correct procedures and frameworks that are in place are followed.
Our advisors can offer you free legal advice about the process of claiming for harm caused by surgeon negligence. Get in touch today to find out more.
How Do I Prove Negligence?
As we have mentioned, you need to prove that surgeon negligence took place in order to be able to make a compensation claim.
It can be difficult to determine whether the actions of a medical professional were within the duty of care that they owe their patient. For this reason, the courts will often use something called the “Bolam Test” to determine whether or not a surgeon was negligent.
This involves a panel of medical professionals in the relevant field being asked whether or not the care administered was of an acceptable standard. If it’s decided that it was not, then they can be considered to have acted negligently.
In addition to this, you will need to prove that your condition worsened as a result of the negligence. If you experienced medical negligence but this did not impact your health, you would not be able to claim.
What Are Examples Of Surgeon Negligence?
In this section, we are going to look at some of the different kinds of surgeries that you could experience negligence in, causing you harm. Surgical negligence can occur in elective surgeries as well as necessary ones; you’re owed the same duty of care in each.
- Plastic surgery negligence (for example, negligence when performing a breast reduction, liposuction or tummy tuck)
- Dental surgery negligence
- Heart surgery negligence
- Spinal surgery negligence
- Caesarean section negligence(this could cause harm to you as well as result in a birth injury that affects your baby’s health)
- Laser eye surgery negligence
However, this is not an exhaustive list; in any kind of surgery you undergo, there is the potential for negligence to cause you harm.
If you want to learn whether you have a valid claim, call and explain your circumstances to a member of our team. If you have a valid case, you could be connected with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
What Will My Surgeon Negligence Payout Be?
We cannot come up with an average figure for the amount of compensation you might get if you win your claim for surgeon negligence. This is because all surgery negligence claims are valued on a case-by-case basis.
However, if you look at the table below, you can see different compensation brackets for different types of injuries you may claim for during surgical negligence claims. The brackets in this table are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a publication used by solicitors to help value injuries. Please note, however, that the first entry has not come from the JCG.
| Injury | Severity | JC Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple forms of severe harm with special damages | Severe | Up to £500,000+ |
| Eye | Total blindness | In the region of £327,940 |
| Kidney | (a) | £206,730 to £256,780 |
| Kidney | (c) | £37,550 to £54,760 |
| Bowels | (b) | Up to £183,190 |
| Bladder | (c) | In the region of £97,530 |
| Arms | Loss of both arms | £293,850 to £366,100 |
| Arm | Below-elbow amputation | £117,360 to £133,810 |
| Legs | Loss of both legs | £293,850 to £344,150 |
| Leg | Amputation of one leg (b) | £119,570 to £162,290 |
You may also be invited to an independent medical assessment where your condition is assessed; the report from this will be used to value your claim.
How Do I Define General Damages And Special Damages?
Following a successful surgeon negligence claim, you could be awarded with general and special damages as part of your compensation.
In all, general damages will compensate you for any physical and mental pain and suffering due to the harm you experienced.
Moreover, the award of special damages will reimburse you for financial losses you may have experienced due to your harm. For instance, you may have paid out of your own pocket for long-term therapy costs due to a PTSD diagnosis after your negligent surgery.
Please see the following examples of special damages you could include in your claim:
- Loss of earnings, such as a loss in current or future earnings, loss of a bonus, loss of overtime and loss of workplace benefits
- Travel expenses, such as fuel or public transport costs to and from appointments
- Medical expenses, such as private medical appointments and prescription costs
- Home modification costs, such as chairlifts and hoists to accommodate permanent disabilities
- Care costs, such as child and elderly care costs
Essentially, you must provide evidence to support any special damages such as:
- Bank statements
- Receipts
- Invoices
- Payslips
To learn more about how to claim for special damages in surgical negligence claims, please contact our team today.
What Is The Process Of Making Surgical Negligence Claims?
Below, we have listed some steps you can take in preparation for making a compensation claim for surgical negligence. Our team can also offer some more advice about collecting evidence if you give us a call.
- Take photographs of your injuries if appropriate.
- Seek medical attention to confirm how the negligence has affected you. You can do this at another healthcare facility if you’re not comfortable doing so at the one where you experienced negligence.
- If there were any witnesses who saw the negligent act take place, gather their contact details. They could provide a statement at a later date.
- Save any travel tickets, invoices, receipts and bills that you have paid because of your injuries.
Call and speak to one of our claim advisors. Once you have explained to them what has happened to you, they can evaluate your claim and let you know whether you could be eligible to receive medical negligence compensation.
How Could You Benefit From Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
You may be in a position to use the services of a No Win No Fee solicitor to help you to make a claim for surgeon negligence. It’s not a legal requirement but might help the process run more smoothly than it would otherwise.
A No Win No Fee agreement means that your solicitor won’t ask you to pay them anything up front or while it’s ongoing. If the claim fails, you still don’t pay your lawyer anything. If your claim is a success, a pre-agreed success fee, which is legally capped, will be deducted by your lawyer.
To learn more about how a No Win No Fee agreement works, please call and talk to our advisors. If they feel your claim is valid, they could connect you with one of our solicitors.
Contact our claims team, any time of the day or night using the details below to get started. They can assess the validity of your claim and may be able to connect you with one of our solicitors.
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use the live chat feature on this page
- Or use our web contact form.
Extra Resources Regarding Surgeon Negligence Claims
Here are some links to useful sites.
NHS guidance on having an operation
And here are some links to related guides.
Clinical And Medical Negligence Claims
How Much Compensation Can I Claim For A Surgical Error?
How Much Compensation Can I Claim Against A Doctor Or GP Negligence?
We hope this guide on claiming for surgery negligence has helped you. If you have any further questions about surgical negligence cases or other types of medical negligence claims, then please get in touch with our advisors using the contact details found within this guide.
