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How to Make A Lack of Consent Medical Negligence Claim? – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

By Olivia Fitzpatrick. Last Updated March 2024. Welcome to our lack of consent medical negligence claims guide.

On this page, you will find a detailed guide to the legal process of making personal injury claims for an instance of lack of consent medical negligence that led to harm to the patient. Every patient is required to give consent before any treatment. This consent is seen to be inferred in many cases, but when the patient is unable to voice their consent for some reason, then the doctor must either stall the treatment until the patient can voice their consent, or receive consent from a guardian or next of kin of the patient who has full rights of attorney.

When no consent is received, and the doctor carries out the procedure anyway, if the patient is harmed, then they can claim clinical negligence compensation. This guide covers this kind of claim.

If you would prefer not to read all of this guide, you can simply call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804 today, and we will talk you through the legal process of making a medical negligence claim, and get your claim started.

What is medical negligence?

Medical negligence is a term used to describe medical malpractice, by which a medical professional performs well below the standard expected of them and provides sub-standard care.

For example, if an incident occurred as a result of a doctor’s actions but other doctors in their position would have acted differently to prevent this incident from happening, then it’s likely that the incident occurred as a result of medical negligence. They may have neglected to carry out proper testing, leading to a misdiagnosis or an incorrect prescription being issued.

Another example of medical negligence is failing to obtain informed consent. This is a lack of written consent to certain treatments being done, whether surgical or otherwise. To ensure that patients are fully informed and aware of the decisions that they’re making, medical professionals must properly explain any risks involved, as well as alternative options if available and the opportunity to answer any questions.

If you’re suffered medical negligence in the form of lack of consent, you could have grounds to make a claim for compensation. Please read on to learn more in this guide.

Select a Section:

A Guide To Lack Of Consent Medical Negligence Claims

lack of consent medical negligence claims

lack of consent medical negligence claims

As long as you are looking to make lack of consent medical negligence claims within the personal injury claims time limit of 3 years, then this guide is going to be of use to you.

This guide covers the end-to-end legal process that your solicitor will follow when making a claim for clinical negligence on your behalf. This will help you better to understand what your solicitor will be doing for you whilst pursuing a claim. This guide contains information such as:

  • A definition of the legal term “informed consent” and how it applies to patients and their doctors.
  • A look at what it actually means when a patient gives their consent for a medical professional to carry out a surgical procedure.
  • An explanation of why the concept of consent is a key tool for protecting patients from harm in the UK.
  • An examination of just what a failure to provide informed consent is, and how it affects the medical team that is dealing with a patient.
  • A list of some of the primary reasons that a patient may be unable to give informed consent.
  • A detailed look into the law in the UK with regards to patients’ rights and how clinical negligence is defined.
  • A list of some of the more common situations where a doctor will be deemed to not require the patient to provide informed consent.
  • Information about the eligibility of a patient to make a clinical negligence claim due to the harm caused by treatment being administered without informed consent.
  • A list of the primary types of damages that a claim for clinical negligence could include as part of the overall settlement.
  • A table that details typical amounts of compensation paid for a wide range of injuries and medical conditions that could be caused by clinical negligence.
  • Key info about the Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) that Legal Expert uses as the backbone of its national claims service, available to all residents of the UK as a simplified and effective way of making a claim in a risk-free manner.

Once you have read this lack of consent medical negligence claims guide, if you need any more information, then we will do our best to help you. All you need to do is call Legal Expert on the telephone number at the bottom of this guide.

What Is Informed Consent?

lack of consent statistics

Source: https://files.digital.nhs.uk/pdf/4/n/data_on_written_complaints_in_the_nhs_2017-18_q1_experimental_statistics.pdf

Looking at the graph above, we can see that both inpatient and outpatient services are the most common two NHS service areas that receive complaints each year in the UK. These two service areas are the two most likely to see a patient be harmed through clinical negligence due to a failure of the informed consent protocol. These cases of lack of consent medical malpractice, could result in a claim.

Lack of informed consent medical malpractice can be avoided by the doctor divulging all of the critical information about a treatment or surgical procedure to the patient, and having the patient agree in writing to undergo the surgery or treatment. The doctor should divulge information such as:

How the procedure or treatment will be carried out, and the effects it will have on the patient.

  • A list of all the most common risks of the procedure or treatment.
  • A list of all the rare and uncommon risks that have a slight probability of occurring.
  • Advise on any alternative treatments or procedures that the patient could undergo instead.
  • Answers to all of the questions the patient has about the procedure or treatment.

By divulging all of this information, the patient can then make an informed decision and decide whether or not to give their consent for the procedure or treatment to be carried out.

If you were harmed by treatment or a surgical procedure that you did not give consent for, Legal Expert can help you to make a medical negligence claim. Call us at the number down at the end of this lack of consent medical negligence claims guide to find out how.

What Does It Mean To Give Consent For An Operation Or Procedure?

A case of lack of informed consent would mean that the patient had not agreed in writing to the treatment of surgical procedure that their doctor is recommending. In order to avoid failures in surgical consent, doctors divulge information such as that which was detailed in the previous section.

If once your doctor has explained how the procedure will work, the common and rare risks, outlined any alternatives and answered all of your questions, you agree to have the treatment or procedure carried out, you will have given informed consent.

What this means, is that the doctor can now do his job, providing the treatment they had recommended or performing the surgical procedure that the patient needs. Because the patient has given informed consent, the doctor is now indemnified against being pursued for damages if one of the divulged risks of the treatment or procedure harms the patient in some way. This does not protect the doctor from being sued for clinical negligence of another type though.

Legal Expert can help you to make lack of consent medical negligence claims, all you must do is call us on the number at the bottom of this page to begin.

Why Is It Important That I Give Consent?

The reason that it is important that you give informed consent, is so that your doctor can provide you with the treatment you need. It is illegal for a doctor to provide treatment or surgery without consent. This could lead to criminal injury proceedings against the doctor, as with most informed consent malpractice cases.

If you are unclear whether you gave informed consent in your case, call Legal Expert on the telephone number in the last section of this guide. We will evaluate your lack of consent medical negligence claims for you, and offer you some free legal advice on whether you have a reason to make a medical negligence compensation claim or not.

What Is A Failure To Provide Informed Consent?

In all lack of informed consent cases, the failure of the patient in giving consent to medical treatment is the key factor. The concept of informed consent is not legislated under any specific set of laws. Instead, it forms part of common law, which all doctors adhere to as an ethical standard. A medical professional will be deemed to have been negligent in their duty to obtain informed consent from their patients if they carry out any of the procedures below without such consent:

  • Examining a patient – whenever a medical professional physically touches a patient, then there is a requirement to get informed consent beforehand.
  • Providing treatment – including surgery, prescribing and administering medication, or scheduling invasive or non-invasive test procedures, or absolutely any other procedure that could cause harm to a patient requires the patient giving informed consent.
  • Providing care – for patients who are either awaiting treatment or convalescing after treatment, then informed consent must be given for the healthcare establishment to provide such care.

If you have suffered at the hands of a medical professional who has failed to get your informed consent, then you could have a valid reason to make lack of consent medical negligence claims. Call Legal Expert on the telephone number at the bottom of this guide to proceed.

How Can A Lack Of Informed Consent Arise?

In medical negligence cases that resulted in a lack of informed consent lawsuit, then there are a number of common ways that a lack of informed consent can come about, and these are:

  • The patient has undergone a surgical procedure but never gave permission for the surgery to be done (does not apply to emergency life-saving procedures).
  • The patient was not advised about a specific risk of a procedure, which subsequently caused them harm.
  • There was a much higher risk of complications than the consent form had outlined, and one of these complications subsequently harmed the patient.
  • The patient underwent treatment or a surgical procedure which was different to the one they actually gave informed consent for.

Many of these reasons are driven by a failure in the protocol for managing patient consent. Even so, if you have been harmed, you can claim compensation. Legal Expert can help you do so, call us on the number in the last section of this lack of consent medical negligence claims guide to begin.

The Law And Lack Of Informed Consent Medical Malpractice

When it comes to a patient giving informed consent requirement for surgical treatment, the law has some pretty stringent requirements. For example:

  • The right of refusal – every patient always has the right to refuse to undergo a specific course of treatment or surgical procedure. All medical professionals must acknowledge the will of the patient in these matters.
  • Power of attorney – for patients who cannot communicate their consent, for example, if they are mentally retarded, unconscious, or unable to understand the issue at hand, then only a guardian or next of kin that has the full power of attorney can provide consent by proxy.
  • Incomplete disclosure – every patient must be told all of the risks involved in a course of treatment or surgical procedure. If they were not, and they gave consent, then it will be deemed null and void as they could not have made an informed decision without all the facts.

If you need more advice about the law regarding informed consent, call Legal Expert on the phone number in the last section of this guide so that we can help you make lack of consent medical negligence claims.

Circumstances When Medical Consent Is Not Needed

In some cases, informed consent is not required, so there will be no valid reason for a patient to claim medical consent compensation. The law in the UK specifies that a medical professional will not need to receive informed consent from a patient in the following situations:

  • Medical emergencies – when the patient needs emergency treatment and they are, for example, unconscious and unable to give consent.
  • Additional surgical procedures – during an operation that the patient has given consent for. If something has gone wrong during the procedure, the surgeon may need to take action outside of the remit of the patient’s previous consent.
  • To protect the public – for example, if the patient has a particularly dangerous and infectious disease, the doctor will be allowed to treat it without consent.
  • To protect the patient – if they are living in unhygienic conditions and are unable to care for themselves properly, medical professionals may act without consent.
  • Mental health issues – if a patient has a severe mental health problem, and there is nobody with the power of attorney to give consent, the doctor may act on their own decision.

If you were harmed due to being administered treatment that you did not give consent for, and it does not fall into the situations outlined above, call Legal Expert on the number at the end of this page to start your lack of consent medical negligence claims.

How Do You Know If You Can Make A Lack Of Consent Medical Negligence Claim?

Every medical professional in the UK is required by law to fulfil their duty of care towards their patients at all times. When the medical professional fails in this duty of care, by accident, mistake, omission or oversight, including failing to follow informed consent protocol, the clinical negligence will have taken place and a personal injury lawyer will be able to help you claim compensation for the harm the doctor caused you.

Legal Expert is exactly the right type of personal injury claims service for making clinical negligence claims, including lack of consent medical negligence claims. We have the knowledge and experience to take on the NHS and win. Call us on the telephone number down in the final section of this guide so that we can help you.

Medical Malpractice Claims Can Include The Following

Any claims for a failure to secure medical consent leading to clinical negligence will include a range of different types of damages, including:

For a better idea of the types of damages you might claim, call Legal Expert on the phone number below to discuss lack of consent medical negligence claims.

Calculating Settlements For Injuries Caused By A Lack Of Consent

We have not provided a personal injury claims calculator. Instead, we have presented this table of typical compensation amounts for a range of injuries:

Updated July 2021. 

Edit
Injury Severity Notes Compensation
Illness or infection Minor Symptoms such as diarrhoea, muscle and stomach cramps, and a mild fever which will clear up in a short time. £860 to £3,710
Illness or infection Moderate Symptoms such as diarrhoea, muscle and stomach cramps, fatigue, bowel problems and a fever which will clear up in the medium-term. £3,710 to £8,950
Illness or infection Serious Symptoms such as diarrhoea, muscle and stomach cramps, fatigue, bowel problems and a bad fever which will clear up in around four to six weeks. £8,950 to £18,020
Illness or infection Severe Symptoms such as diarrhoea, muscle and stomach cramps, fatigue, bowel problems, sickness, toxic shock and a severe fever which will not clear up for a long time. £36,060 to £49,270
Mental trauma Moderate Cases of shock and mental trauma that are overcome within a few days. £4,380
Psychiatric injury Severe Including conditions such as developing additional phobias, dangerous levels of stress, anxiety, depression and even PTSD that will last for a long time and seriously affect the victim’s life. £51,460 to £108,620
Psychiatric injury Moderate to severe Including conditions such as developing additional phobias, dangerous levels of stress, anxiety, depression and even PTSD that will last for quite a long time and seriously affect the victim’s life. £17,900 to £51,460
Psychiatric injury Moderate Including conditions such as developing additional phobias, dangerous levels of stress, anxiety, depression and even PTSD that will last for a short time and seriously affect the victim’s life. £5,500 to £17,900

Call Legal Expert on the number below to get a much more accurate estimate of what you might get from lack of consent medical negligence claims.

No Win No Fee Medical Malpractice Claims

Legal Expert offers our No Win No Fee claims service as a very simple, effective and completely risk-free (financially) way to make compensation claims for medical negligence through failure to receive informed consent.

You pay nothing to start your claim, no ongoing costs, and if we don’t make a claim for you then you pay nothing at all. When we win your case and you receive a damages settlement, then you will need to pay our fees.

Call us at the number below so that we can begin making your lack of consent medical negligence claims for you.

Legal Expert Can Help You Claim Compensation After Injuries Caused By A Lack Of Consent

Legal Expert is a very experienced team of personal injury solicitor, we can leverage this experience to enable us to claim compensation from large organisations such as the NHS on behalf of our clients. We have done so hundreds of times before and we can do so for you. Call us on the number below to find out how.

Lack of consent medical negligence claims FAQs

A lack of informed consent is when a medical professional fails to provide sufficient information to their patient.

What is an example of lack of informed consent?

An example of lack of informed consent is when a medical professional fails to explain alternative treatment options to a patient or the risks involved in their current treatment route.

Could I make a medical negligence claim?

If you suffered as a result of a medical professional or hospital’s failings, you could be able to claim, providing you can prove that their negligence was to blame.

How can I identify medical negligence?

Medical negligence can usually be determined by assessing whether the following criteria applies to your situation:

  • The third party in question owed you a duty of care
  • They failed to uphold their duty
  • You suffered as a result

How can I prove my suffering?

If you undergo a medical evaluation with an independent medical expert, they can produce a report to evidence your claim. Within this report, everything from your injuries to the impact they’ve had on your life will be included.

Why are No Win No Fee agreements helpful?

These conditional fee agreements allow you to obtain legal help to make your claim without the usual expense. This is due to the fact that no fees are charged by a No Win No Fee lawyer unless they win their client’s case for compensation. Therefore, any success fee that they charge will be deducted from the final settlement award.

How can I find a No Win No Fee solicitor for me?

Law firms don’t have to be based in your local area anymore in order for you to work with them. Instead, you can access the best legal help online or over the phone from the comfort of your own home. So, why not get in touch with Legal Expert today to see what we could do for you?

How can I get in touch with Legal Expert?

Please see the section below for information on how to contact our team of specialist advisors.

Contact Legal Expert Today

Are you ready to make a compensation claim for medical negligence caused by a failure to procure informed consent which led to you coming to hard? If you are, call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804 right now. Once we know a bit more about your lack of consent medical negligence claims, we will advise you on what we think you should be doing next.

Resources And Links

Below, we have provided a link that will send you to a full guide to making a compensation claims for medical/clinical negligence:

A guide to making medical/clinical negligence misdiagnosis of cancer

Below, we have provided a link that will send you to a full guide to making a compensation claims for GP negligence:

A guide to making GP negligence claims

Below, we have provided a link that will send you to the NHS web page that covers the concept of informed consent:

NHS information on informed consent

Below, we have provided a link that will send you to the UK Government web page that provides a reference guide for establishing informed consent:

UK Government information on informed consent

Thanks for reading our lack of consent medical negligence claims guide.