Medical Negligence Claims Explained

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How Much Compensation Can I Claim For Medical Negligence?

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 7th October 2024. Welcome to our guide on clinical and medical negligence claims.

Medical negligence is a term that describes mishaps or mistakes that are made by healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, surgeons, and care staff. It covers a wide range of potential reasons for making a medical negligence compensation claim such as mistakes made during an operation or medical procedure, misdiagnosis, ill-treatment, or administering the wrong drugs and medication.

If you have suffered negative health effects due to the possible negligence of healthcare professionals in a hospital, or as an outpatient, then you may have a valid reason to claim medical negligence compensation. For more information, please continue reading our guide or get in touch with one of our specialist advisors today:

A medical negligence claim solicitor shakes hands with a client

Select a section:

    1. Eligibility Criteria For Medical Negligence Compensation Claims
    2. What Forms Of Medical Negligence Can I Claim Compensation For?
    3. Medical Compensation Claims – Examples Of Evidence
    4. Compensation Amounts For Medical Negligence
    5. What Is The Medical Negligence Claims Time Limit?
    6. No Win No Fee medical negligence compensation claims.
    7. Extra Resources for Clinical and Medical Negligence Claims

Eligibility Criteria For Medical Negligence Compensation Claims

Every medical professional owes a duty of care to their patients. Per their duty of care, they must make sure that they provide a minimum standard of care to each patient they treat and prevent causing avoidable harm. It is important to note that there may be some instances where you suffer harm, but a medical professional could not avoid that harm occurring and therefore did not breach their duty of care.

For medical negligence compensation claims to be valid, they must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
  2. This duty of care was breached.
  3. As a result, you suffered unnecessary harm.

Contact our advisors today if you have any questions about making clinical and medical negligence claims and how much compensation for medical negligence could be awarded for successful cases.

What Forms Of Medical Negligence Can I Claim Compensation For?

There are many different forms of medical negligence that you may be able to claim compensation for, some of which include:

  • Childbirth injuries: These could occur to the mother or the baby and may happen because the unborn baby was not properly monitored throughout labour.
  • Unnecessary surgery: This could happen because your medical records are mixed up with those of another patient.
  • Misdiagnosis: For instance, if your GP fails to sufficiently consider your symptoms and instead diagnoses you with another condition. This can result in the worsening of the original condition as well as unneeded treatment for an illness that you did not have.
  • Prescription errors: A pharmacy could dispense the wrong medication, which could lead to side effects or allergic reactions.
  • Never events: For example, wrong-site surgery. This could occur if you are due to have surgery on your right hand, but your left hand is operated on instead.

If you have any questions about compensation amounts for medical negligence, speak with one of the advisors from our team. In addition to answering your questions, an advisor can assess your eligibility to claim compensation for medical negligence.

Medical Compensation Claims – Examples Of Evidence

Medical compensation claims for negligence will require supporting evidence of the negligence and the harm you suffered as a result.

Evidence types could include:

  • Your medical records
  • Correspondence with the faulting party
  • Witness contact details so a statement can be taken
  • The findings of any investigations carried out by the hospital

In the UK, medical negligence compensation could also include an amount for financial losses, so you could also provide evidence of these, if applicable. Please reach out to a member of our team to learn more about how to make a medical negligence claim or how compensation in a medical claim is calculated.

Call us today to discuss clinical and medical negligence claims.

Compensation Amounts For Medical Negligence

Let’s take a look at some compensation amounts for medical negligence.

Now that we’ve discussed medical negligence examples of evidence, you may be interested in knowing what you could be awarded in a successful clinical negligence compensation claim.

Compensation may be divided into general and special damages. Whilst general damages offer compensation for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries, special damages accommodate for any financial harm you may have suffered due to medical negligence.

Below we have taken compensation amounts from the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to give you an idea of what you might receive in general damages following clinical negligence. It’s worth noting that the figures below do not represent what you might receive in terms of special damages, nor are they a guarantee of what you could claim, as every case is different.

Injury TypeCompensation Guideline
Multiple serious injuries/illnesses and special damagesUp to £750,000+
Brain damage - Moderately severe£267,340 to £344,150
Brain damage - Moderate (i)£183,190 to £267,340
Brain damage - Less severe£18,700 to £52,550
Bladder injuries (a)Up to £224,790
Bowel injuries (b)Up to £183,190
Chest injury (c) - Damage to the chest and lungs
£38,210 to £66,920
Psychiatric damage - Moderately severe£23,270 to £66,920
Spleen injuries (a)£25,380 to £32,090
Scarring to the Body
- Several noticeable laceration scars or a single disfiguring scar		£9,560 to £27,740

If you would like to know more about what compensation might be awarded in a medical negligence claim in the UK, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Compensation For Medical Negligence – Other Amounts

As mentioned above, special damages may also be included in your settlement. If eligible, this is when you could be reimbursed for any financial losses or impact caused by your injuries.

Here are some examples of possible special damages you may be able to claim for:

  • Medical costs – Some private healthcare, for example, or costs for prescription medication.
  • Additional care at home – In the event you require extra help at home after being discharged from hospital.
  • Loss of earnings – Special damages can also account for any lost wages, pension contributions, or even bonuses, if your injuries have affected your income.

You will need evidence to support these losses. For example, you could present payslips to prove how much you would have earned during your period of recovery.

Get in touch today if you have any questions about medical negligence compensation claims or medical injury claims.

What Is The Medical Negligence Claims Time Limit?

Another important aspect of making a successful claim is ensuring you do so within the required timescales. As such, you may be wanting to know “what is the medical negligence claims time limit?”

As per The Limitation Act 1980, in most instances, you have three years from the date you sustained the injury or the date you were made aware that your injuries were caused by negligence to begin a claim.

However, this time limit may not be relevant in particular circumstances. For instance, if you’re under the age of eighteen when you are injured, you have three years from the date of your eighteenth birthday to begin the claim. Furthermore, if someone lacks the mental capacity to claim, the time limit will not apply until they regain the ability to claim.

Therefore, if you lack the mental capacity or are under the age of eighteen, a litigation friend can claim on your behalf.

Making a Medical Negligence Compensation Claim on a No Win No Fee Basis

You may be concerned about the costs of hiring a medical negligence solicitor to help you claim. However, some solicitors may offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee contract.

What this means is that the solicitor can start working for you and, generally, they will not expect an upfront fee. If the claim is successful, then the solicitor takes their success fee out of the amount awarded. However, if the claim is unsuccessful, then you do not pay the solicitor.

All of our solicitors could offer a No Win No Fee agreement. If you have any further questions about how No Win No Fee solicitors work, get in touch with our advisors at any time.

How to Make a Medical Negligence Compensation Claim

Free legal advice about clinical and medical negligence claims is available 24/7 from our advisors. If your clinical negligence claim seems eligible and you would like to proceed with Legal Expert’s services, you could be put in touch with our No Win No Fee solicitors.

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    • Patrick Mallon legal expert author

      Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.

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